Yugioh Gran Championship: The Story of Dark Cloud
by Towermon222
Summary: This is a story of when Yugi was at the Gran Championship but with Kaiba's addition of 10 new duelists. One of them being a duelist Yugi has met and dueled before. What will happen in the Gran Championships's subcategory, the Wild Card Tournament? Last Chapter has been posted. Please Review. (Probably should read Yugi versus Dark Cloud first.)
1. The Wild Cards

This story takes place after Yugi beat the haywire dueling computer and the announcer is calling out the competitors' names. When they get to the last one, another duelist steps on to the stage. There will be some mention of my the prequel that I'm going to right, _Yugi Versus The Cloud_.

Chapter 1

The Wild Cards

"Oh, it appears someone is late," said the announcer.

Yugi and the everyone else looked

The boy who stood at the door wore a black leather jacket matched by a black muscle shirt and a black pair of jeans. On his feet he wore a black pair of sneakers and he had on a black pair of fingerless gloves that looked like those that were given to the competitors of the Duelist Kingdom Tournament, but it was his face that caught everyone's collective eye. His hair was spiky and bright red with orange and yellow mixed in. Below each of his fiery red eyes there were three downward pointing arrows and on his forehead was another marking that looked like the level star off a Duel Monsters' card.

"Sorry 'bout that Mr. Kaiba," said the stranger, "The guards thought I stole my invitation."

"That doesn't mean a thing," said Kaiba, "You were late, which means your disqualified."

"Not so fast Kaiba," the strange boy said holding up his hand, "You can't disqualify me."

"Why is that, might I ask?"

"Because of the contract your guy made me sign to get into this competition as a Wild Card in the first place, and it clearly stated that in the case of a misunderstanding with an employee of the Kaiba Corporation the undersigned cannot be disqualified."

"Your point is?"

"Your watchdogs outside detaining me for an hour is my point," said the boy, "Because of them, I'm still in the tournament and so are the other nine wild card duelists I'm representing by being here."

Kaiba's face twisted with anger but finally he said, "Fine, just take the stage so you can be introduced."

"Actually," said the boy as he walked to the stage, "I'll introduce myself."

He stood on the stage and looked out at the crowd, "My name is LaKota Dark Cloud, that's Lakota with a capitol 'K'. I'm the American duelist that's going to show you Japanese what the darkness of light can do."

LaKota smiled revealing four extremely long canines that Yugi found extremely familiar.

That night as Yugi laid in the room he'd been given to sleep in for the tournament, he thought about the boy who had actually used Kaiba's own intelligence against him to stay in the tournament.

Just then Yugi heard someone walking outside his room then a knock came from the door.

Yugi rose from his bed to answer the door, and on the other side was LaKota Dark Cloud

"Hi Yugi Moto," he said with his fanged smile, "We weren't formally introduced, but I'm LaKota Dark Cloud and I'd like to talk to you outside."


	2. Dueling a Shadow

Chapter 2

Dueling A Shadow

After Yugi got dressed he followed LaKota outside.

Yugi wanted to question LaKota about his fangs, as they were becoming increasingly familiar.

It was about two months after Yugi's duel with Anubis when he met a strange masked boy who called himself The Cloud. He challenged Yugi to a duel that put the God Cards on the line. But his strategy was to power up one particular monster and Yugi beat him easily.

Yugi had always wondered what happened to The Cloud because he had said he was going to travel the world to find himself.

Yugi looked over LaKota as they walked through the darkened Kaiba Land theme park with only a flashlight.

He definitely had the same canine teeth as The Cloud, but LaKota's outfit was black where The Cloud had worn all white, his mask had even been white.

LaKota finally stopped at a small sitting area.

"I know what your thinking Yugi," he said turning to look at him and revealing another fanged smile, "Your wondering why some guy you barely know woke you up in the middle of the night to walk around an amusement park."

"It did cross my mind." said Yugi (this is normal Yugi).

LaKota raised up his arm to reveal a strange black and gold, gauntlet like Duel Disk, "It's because I want a duel."

Yugi stumbled a bit in surprise, "You want to what!"

"I said I want to duel you and the Pharaoh, 8000 Life Points each." repeated LaKota.

Yugi stumbled again surprised that LaKota knew about the Pharaoh who had just appeared next to Yugi.

"Haven't you figured out who I am yet?" asked LaKota

"I've got pretty good idea." said Yugi.

"Maybe this'll help," LaKota pulled something out of his pocket and placed it in front of his face, it was a white mask that only covered the top half of his face and fangs decorated the bottom of it, "Recognize me now."

Yugi and the Pharaoh both gasped as LaKota proved that he was The Cloud.

"Now Yugi, lets duel." said LaKota as he threw down the mask which shattered when it hit the ground.

Yugi realized that he didn't have much of a choice and the Pharaoh took control of their shared body, "Your on LaKota."

"Now that's more like it." said LaKota as both of their Life Point Meters Flashed 8000 Life Points.

They each drew five cards and LaKota took the first move.

"I'll start this off by playing a spell card, _Perfect Darkness_(FAKE)."

Shadows surrounded them and the air became icy cold.

"_Perfect Darkness, _what's that mean?" asked the Pharaoh, only just realizing how much LaKota must have changed since their last duel.

"That means all of my monsters are treated as DARK attributed monsters for the rest of the duel."

"Is that all your going to do?" asked the Pharaoh.

"No," answered LaKota with a smile, "Next I'll summon _Indomitable Fighter Lei Lei_(REAL) in attack mode_."_

A large orange-furred beast man appeared. The creature was covered in scars, his tail was even battle worn. He wore a spiked helmet on his head, and on his chest, shoulders, and knees, he wore matching pinkish-red armor. He also wore a gray clothe belt and a pair of gray clothe gloves that matched. The creature had 2300 attack points.

Suddenly, Lei Lei arched back in pain as he began to change. His fur became coal black, his fangs grew big enough to be clearly visible, and finally his red armor became a dark silver.

"Now, thanks to _Perfect Darkness, _myfighterhasbecome a creature of the shadows," LaKota smiled again, "I'll end now with a face down."

Yugi looked at his hand and chose a card, "I summon, _Queen's Knight _in defense mode."

A blonde haired, red armored woman appeared on the field. She had 1600 defense points.

"You're going to start the duel with that outdated move?" LaKota asked with a quizzical expression, "I've still got the stronger monster."

"I'm not attempting to fight your Indomitable Fighter, I'm merely playing the way I see fit, your move."

LaKota drew one card, "Good, I summon _Jinzo #7_."

A purple skinned cyborg appeared on the field in attack position with nothing but 500 attack points.

_"Why play such a weak monster in attack mode." _asked Yugi.

_"I_ _don't_ _know_ _Yugi." _thought the Pharaoh.

"I can tell you why Pharaoh." answered LaKota.

"How…"

"…Can I hear your conversations with Yugi?" interrupted LaKota, "It's the ability of my family's bloodline. We're known as the Society of Shining Darkness."

_"And what do they have to do with the Pharaoh?" _asked Yugi.

"Patience Mr. Moto," LaKota smiled again, "right now we have a duel to finish, and I activate _Jinzo #7's _effect, which allows him to attack directly!"

The machine ran toward the Pharaoh then jumped up and put his fists together as he came down and hit the Pharaoh causing him to fall to his knees as his Life Points dropped to 7500.

"I actually felt that attack?"

"Of course you did," LaKota raised his arms as a dome of shadows surrounded the two duelists, "This is an American version of what you Japs call a Shadow Game."

"What?"

"You heard right Pharaoh. _**NOW**__**DUEL!**_"


	3. Shining Darkness

Chapter 3

Shining Darkness

"Why would you do this?" asked the Pharaoh.

"Because, I believe that behind every dark cloud, light can be found."

"You what?"

"You see our society, like the Ishtar family, was appointed by the Pharaoh; but for a much different reason."

"What reason was that?"

LaKota stood contemplating his answer.

He finally said, "Isn't it your turn?"

"Fine, but I will get my answers." the Pharaoh drew a card then scanned his hand, "I summon _King's_ _Knight_ in attack mode."

The orange an yellow suited warrior appeared next to the Queen, his sword was drawn.

"And now you can summon _Jack's_ _Knight _from your deck, I know the strategy." said LaKota

The blue armored knight appeared and stood next to the other two ready to strike.

"Fine, _Jack's Knight _attack _Jinzo #7_!"

The 1900 attack point warrior ran at the machine.

"Oh no you don't, go _Negate Attack_!"

_"You have a __**Negate Attack **__trap card?" _asked Yugi.

"Actually, I have three."

_Jack's Knight _stopped, mid-air, in front of _Jinzo #7 _and was then slowly pulled back to the Pharaoh's field.

"Anything else you'd like to do before I make my move?"

The Pharaoh sighed, "I'll play one card facedown, your move."

LaKota drew one card from his deck and smiled.

"Just what I needed, go _Card_ _of_ _Sanctity_," the sky above them began to glow, "Now we both draw until we have six cards in our hands."

The duelists drew cards from there decks and LaKota's smile broadened.

"Now this is a hand, I'll use these new cards to summon my _Muka Muka_."

A weird bug like creature appeared next to _Jinzo #7_, on the creature's head were hole-like things that let out gray smoke.

The beast started to vibrate rapidly as its legs started to turn black and its claws and top part with the holes turned a dark grey. The creature had 600 attack points.

LaKota smiled, Yugi and the Pharaoh were starting to hate that smile, "Now, _Jinzo #7 _attack the Pharaoh directly."

The cyborg once again ran at the Pharaoh.

"Not this time LaKota, go _Spellbinding Circle_!"

A strange circle of light appeared and surrounded _Jinzo #7_ dropping his attack points to zero

_"Now his monster can't attack!" _said Yugi.

"You're right young Yugi, but I still have two other monsters; Lei Lei attack _King's Knight_!"

The beast-warrior ran at the defenseless warrior and punched him multiple times.

_King's Knight _fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

The Pharaoh fell to the ground in pain as his Life Points dropped to 7100.

_"Are you alright Pharaoh?" _asked a concerned Yugi.

"Of course he's not alright," said LaKota as he placed one card facedown, "he just took 400 points of real damage! Now Lei Lei is put into defense mode due to his effect."

The Pharaoh stood back up and drew from his deck, "You haven't won yet LaKota!"

"Just make your move so I can do even more damage to you." said LaKota with another annoying smile.

_"I officially hate that smile."_

"I can still hear you Yugi." said LaKota.

"Then hear this LaKota," said the Pharaoh, "I play _Monster Reborn_ to bring back _King's Knight _in defense mode!

The mighty King repapered on the field with his shield in front of him.

"I also place my _Jack's Knight _in defense mode and play one facedown, your move."

LaKota drew a card, "I'll start by placing Lei Lei back in attack mode and play _Pot of Greed._"

Two cards popped out of his deck and he drew them.

"Next, I activate _Double-Sided Effect_(FAKE)," the face down card from last turn flipped face-up, it had a picture of Duel Monsters' card with what looked like a cyclones coming out of the front and back of the card and suddenly two cyclones _did_ come out of the card, "Now when either of us activate a Spell or Trap card that only works on one player, the effect now works on both players so you have to draw two cards as well."

Yugi drew two cards giving him seven.

"_What about __**Perfect Darkness**__?" _asked Yugi.

"The effect doesn't work on it because it was played before the turn this trap was activated, and now for my favorite part," LaKota took one card from his hand, "I summon my _Dark Crusader_(REAL) in attack mode."

A black armored warrior appeared on the field.

He wore a skull faced mask, a ripped up red cape, had pale skin, and red hair with two black streaks through it.

The final detail was his huge ebony sword and he had 1600 ATK points

"As you'll remember, this handsome Warrior-Type is one of my best cards," he took another card from his hand, "and this card'll make him even stronger, go _Crusader Claw_(FAKE) which will add 200 points to his effect."

A black metal claw appeared on the hand that _Dark Crusader_ didn't have the sword in.

"What effect?" asked the Pharaoh.

"Oh, I forgot I didn't get a chance to reveal his true power in our last duel. Well it goes like this," said LaKota taking a card from his hand, "I send a DARK attributed monster, like my _Kuriboh_, to the graveyard and my _Dark Crusader_ gains 400 ATK points plus an additional 200 points from _Crusader Claw_," the monster's attack quickly spiked to 2200, "Plus, _Dark Crusader _now deals damage even if your monster is in defense mode, which in the states we call piercing battle damage. Attack _King's Knight_."

_Dark Crusader _raised his huge sword and cut the royal knight in half causing the Pharaoh's Life Points to dropped to 6300.

The Pharaoh shouted in pain.

"Yell all you want Pharaoh, no sound can exit this dome," LaKota smiled again, "Now Lei Lei, destroy _Queen's Knight_."

The beast-man ran up to the female warrior and punched her shield causing her and it to crack and shatter. Lei Lei then went back into defense mode.

"Not bad," said the Pharaoh, "but I activate _Magical Hats_."

Suddenly four top hats covered the Pharaoh's field.

"I saw that coming," said LaKota, "your move."

_"He's far too calm Pharaoh.", _Yugi pointed out.

"I agree." said the Pharaoh

"I don't." LaKota interjected.

_"Stop listening to our conversation!"_, yelled Yugi.

"I can't," said LaKota, "It's a gift, and a curse, given to the society by the Pharaoh 5000 years ago in Egypt."

"You can explain when I win," said Pharaoh, "I'll place another card under the _Magical Hats _and end my turn."


	4. LaKota's End Game

Chapter 4

LaKota's End Game

"Good, First I'll place Lei Lei in attack mode and sacrifice _Jinzo #7 _to play _Jinzo _inattack mode."

The green cyborg usually used by Joey appeared on LaKota's field.

The hats on the field shattered like they were made of glass, revealing _Jack's Knight _and _Magician's Valkyria _in attack mode.

"_Dark Crusader_ destroy _Jack's Knight_."

The warrior slashed through the Jack, changing the Pharaoh's Life Points from 6300 to 5100.

"Lei Lei attack _Magician's Valkyria_!"

With cat-like speed, Lei Lei ran through the Spellcaster, dropping the Pharaoh to 4400.

"_Jinzo _attack!"

The machine ran at the Pharaoh and struck him bringing the Life Points meter down to 2000.

"Now _Muka Muka_"

The bug-like creature shot fog at the Pharaoh's face, leaving him with 800 Life Points.

"Oh, did I forget to tell you that _Muka Muka_ gains 300 ATK for every card in my hand?"

(That means he has 1200 ATK points.)

When he stopped coughing the Pharaoh said, "That was a cheap move LaKota, but its my turn."

"Not yet Pharaoh, by playing my _Dark Destroyer_(FAKE CARD)card I can send _Jinzo _to the graveyardto destroy your _Magical_ _Hats_ trap card." said LaKota.

The two cards shattered. The Pharaoh then took a card from his deck and played it.

"I play _Swords of Revealing Light_!"

Three swords, made of pure light, landed on LaKota's field.  
"Not bad Pharaoh," said LaKota far too calmly, "but if you'll recall, my trap card causes that card's effect to now works on both of us."

Yugi and the Pharaoh gasped as three more swords fell on their field.

"Now neither of us can attack for three of our turns.", said LaKota.

"Fine, I'll play _Big_ _Shield_ _Gardna_ in defense mode and end my turn." the black haired warrior materialized on the field sitting on one knee with a huge shield in front of the Pharaoh.

LaKota drew a card and a strange look came over his face, "I'll pass this turn."

"Fine," said the Pharaoh as he drew a card, "I summon _Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts_ in defense mode."

LaKota drew, that look still on his face, "I'll pass this turn as well."

Yugi gave the Pharaoh a confused look, _"Why doesn't he looked worried about his situation?"_

LaKota stopped the Pharaoh from answering and did it himself, "Because all the pieces of my plan have come into play."

LaKota had a far away look on his face as he spoke and his red eyes had become a light gray.

"If you say so," said the Pharaoh, "I summon _Giant Soldier of Stone_ in defense mode."

The 2000 defense point golem creature appeared on the field.

LaKota drew once more, "I'll pass and make the final blow next turn."

"Whatever you say LaKota, I draw," the Pharaoh looked at his hand and picked a card, "I summon _Alpha_ _the_ _Magnet Warrior _in defense mode," a man made of magnets appeared and stood ready to protect, "I'll end with that."

"Prepare yourself Pharaoh," said LaKota as he drew a card, "for this is the last move in this duel," LaKota took one card from his hand, "I sacrifice _Indomitable Fighter Lei Lei _and _Dark Crusader _to summon…Queen of the galaxies and mistress of the stars, the _Cosmo Queen_(REAL)!"

The two monsters disappeared and a black star appeared where they once stood. In a brilliant flash the star exploded and it took the shape of a 20 foot tall female human being.

She had purple skin and wore a red robe held on by a green and gold shoulder piece. The golden crown on her head was proof of her title as queen.

As she appeared LaKota's outfit changed from black to pure white.

"What is she?" asked the Pharaoh in awe.

"She is the darkness within all light." said LaKota.

"What?"

"I told you before, I believe that behind every dark cloud is a ray of sunlight waiting to break through," LaKota paused, "in my deck she's that ray of light."

LaKota gave a smile unlike all the others he'd given this duel, "Now I play the Spell card known as _Pot of Greed_."

Both players drew two cards.

"Exactly what I was looking for," said LaKota, "I play _Piercing Sword_."

A jet black sword appeared in the queen's hand.

"This card will allow me to deal you damageto you even if your monsters are in defense mode. And now I play, _Diffusion Wave-Motion_."

"Oh no." exclaimed the Pharaoh.

"Now _Cosmo Queen_,who has 2900 ATK points, can attack all of your monsters."

In the queen's hand a ball of energy appeared.

"_Cosmo Queen_, attack with _Big Nova_(I made this attack up)!"

The ball of energy released waves of power that destroyed all four of the Pharaoh's monsters.

The Pharaoh's Life Points dropped to 0.

As control of the body swapped backed to Yugi, the Pharaoh screaming in pain all the while, he waited for his soul to be taken from him.

"Get up Yugi."


	5. The Whole Story

Chapter 5

The Whole Story

Yugi looked up to see LaKota. His clothes had faded back to their original black and his eyes had regained their red color.

The Pharaoh appeared next to Yugi completely unscathed from the painful battle.

"Pharaoh! You're still here!"

"Why wouldn't he be?" asked LaKota.

"You said…" started Yugi.

"I'll explain, 5000 years ago the Pharaoh assigned my ancestor the job of watching the world from the shadows, quite literally. He was given certain abilities: the ability to see spirits, the ability to blend into the shadows, the ability to foresee others actions, _and _the ability to make an opponent confused."

"So, the dome of shadows?" questioned Yugi.

"An image created by your own mind. I also caused you to make the move that lost you the duel."

_"The Swords of Revealing Light!" _exclaimed the Pharaoh.

"Exactly," said LaKota with a smile, "If you'd been in your right mind you wouldn't have played that card."

"So why did you want to duel the Pharaoh?" asked Yugi.

"I needed to get you alone long enough for me to tell you what I'm here for." answered LaKota.

"And that's what exactly?" asked Yugi.

"Kaiba hired ten wild card duelists as sort of a game changer later on, but I'm the only one who showed up at the party though because Kaiba said only one wild card had to show up to represent everyone and I volunteered," said LaKota, "Anyway, two of these duelists are part of a group known as the Soul Eaters."

"Why are they called that?" asked Yugi.

"Because they actually eat souls to stay young." said LaKota.

"What?" shouted Yugi.

"That's another reason I brought you out here," said LaKota, "I need back the _Sky Dragon Valkyrie_(FAKE)card."

_"Why do you need that card?" _asked the Pharaoh.

"As I said, I can see what others are going to do, and I'll need that card tomorrow." answered LaKota.

Yugi dug into his deck and found the card LaKota needed, "Here, it's your card anyway."

"Thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow at the beginning of the tournament."

"Wait," said Yugi, "How did you start doing what you're doing now?"

"Oh I've always been part of the family that started the society. I just didn't join until…" LaKota paused, "well, after you beat me I started traveling the world like I said I would. I challenged several people to some duels and lost every single time except one time and it was against a Soul Eater named Dex." LaKota sighed, "Well a little while after the duel with Dex I came to small town where I met a member of the society and dueled them, I lost." then LaKota smiled, "Then, while I laid in the dirt I remembered that my father had always said that one day my travels would lead me to what I really needed."

_"And what was that?"_ asked the Pharaoh.

"Direction, I'd always gone through life thinking I needed freedom, but the truth was I needed a way to go in life." LaKota pulled a phone out of his pocket and looked at the time, "Well we better get some sleep, tomorrow is a big day."

Yugi nodded and as they walked to their rooms he knew that this tournament had just gotten even more serious.

The next morning, the group of sixteen had become a group of twenty-six.

There were the sixteen that showed up on time, LaKota, and then the nine other wild card duelist hired by Kaiba.

Five appeared to all be from different parts of the world. There was an African shaman, an outback trekker, a fur coated Russian, a Chinese man with a long braid and wearing a kimono, and a young boy in a South American poncho.

Two of the other wild card duelists, who were possibly American, seemed to be twins. One was a boy and one was a girl, but they looked just alike. The boy wore a black dress suit while the girl wore a black dress that reached her ankles. They looked more like they were ready for a ballroom dance than a dueling tournament, and Yugi had a feeling that these were the two duelists LaKota had warned him about

Two of the other new duelist stood next to LaKota, a girl and a man.

The girl looked to be about LaKota's age with red hair and the same outfit as LaKota, but more feminine and her jacket was zipped up. Her eyes were like those of a cat's with slit like pupils and a bright yellow color.

The man was at least a foot taller than LaKota with brown hair but the same fiery red eyes. He wore a black leather jacket like LaKota, but it had flames decorating the bottom of it. The rest of his clothes were exactly like LaKota's.

All three wore similar gauntlet-like duel disks.

The man's had a fiery pattern and the girl's was striped like a tiger.

Yugi walked up to the three duelists.

"Hey Yugi," said LaKota with one of his fanged smiles, "I'd like you to meet two more members of the Society. The girl's name is Maya. Yes, the eyes are a little creepy, but believe me they make her one tough duelist. Plus, she's the person I dueled that made me realized I had to join the society."

The girl stepped forward and shook Yugi's hand, "I've heard a lot about you Mr. Moto," she leaned in close and whispered, "Don't worry about losing to LaKota, he's the best duelist in the entire Society and since he joined the society he hasn't lost a single duel unless he's wanted to."

LaKota smiled at Maya's statement then pointed to the man, "This is my older brother, Stephen," the two of them both gave fanged smiles, "See the resemblance?"

Yugi shook hands with the man then asked, "You seem to be in the know, so who are those two?"

Yugi pointed out the twin duelist looking hungrily over the audience.

"Drago and Draganna," said LaKota, "they're the Soul Eaters. Don't let their appearances fool you, they're older than they look."

Yugi shivered at the thought of dueling someone who could eat your soul if you lost to them.

"Don't worry Yugi," said LaKota, "The Society won't let those soul stealing, age stopping, psychopathic, duelists get any farther than the Wild Card round."

This put a little more of a smile on Yugi's face.

After that Mokuba did his speech and tried to get Yugi on the stage. Just when Yugi got to the elevator, Kaiba showed up and told everyone to get a move on.

Finally the first two duels were decided, Joey versus Apnarg and the Leon kid versus that wacko surgeon.

Just as LaKota was about to congratulate Joey on getting the first duel, a man tapped him on the shoulder. LaKota turned around to see a familiar face.

"Oh great, you again." LaKota said to the same guard who had detained him and caused him to be late, "What do you want?"

"Mr. Kaiba wants to see you in his office." answered the guard.

"Fine, I know the way there."


	6. Kaiba Versus Dark Cloud

Chapter 6

Kaiba Versus Dark Cloud

As LaKota entered Kaiba's office there was a deep feeling of anger in the air, LaKota suspected that Kaiba had called him in for more than just a friendly conversation.  
"Hello Mr. Kaiba," said LaKota, "beautiful day for a tournament."

"You can skip the pleasantries," said an annoyed Kaiba, "I called you in here to tell you I'm onto you."

"I have no idea what your talking about, Kaiba." said LaKota with a smile.

"I checked the flight records and your name isn't on them along with two others." said Kaiba.

LaKota shook his head, "Those two other names are Maya Ramirez and Stephen Firestorm, and our names aren't there because we came by private jet."

"And how did you manage that?" asked Kaiba skeptically.

"The group that gave all three of us our recommendations has the money for luxuries," said LaKota, "of course you know all about luxuries don't you."

Kaiba growled, "I'll let you in on a secret," he stood and looked LaKota right in the eye, "I don't like you, and if it weren't for that contract I'd take you out of this tournament myself."

"Then I say we settle this." said LaKota activating his duel disk, "If you beat me in a duel I'll not only quit the tournament, I'll pay you back double the amount you paid me."

Kaiba smirked and pulled out his own duel disk and deck, "You might as well quit and pay me now."

"How dose 8000 Life Points each sound?" asked LaKota.

"Fine by me." said Kaiba as the Life Points meters set themselves.

They each drew five cards and Kaiba took the first move.

"I summon _Kaiser Sea Horse _in attack mode."

The spiky-bodied, 1700 ATK point LIGHT attributed monster appeared in front of Kaiba.

"Nice starting move," said LaKota, "is that all your going to do?"

"For now." said Kaiba with an evil grin on his face.

LaKota drew a card and studied his hand for second then he took two cards from his hand and said, "I'll start this duel with my favorite Spell card, _Perfect Darkness_," just like in the duel with Yugi, shadows surrounded the field and icy winds began to blow through the large office, "Next, I'll play my _Indomitable Fighter Lei Lei_."

As soon as the orange cat-man appeared he turned into his darker variant.

"Why did your fighter turn black?" asked Kaiba (That's right, in this story Kaiba hasn't ever seen this card either).

"_Perfect Darkness _turnsall of my monsters into DARK attributed monsters," said LaKota as he took two more cards from his hand, "I'll end my turn with two face-downs."

Kaiba seem confused about LaKota's strategy, _'Why wouldn't he attack my monster before I could use its ability?'_

"Are you going to make your move or what?" LaKota asked impatiently.

"I'll make a move alright," said Kaiba as he drew a card, "I activate _Kaiser Sea Horse's _special ability and sacrifice him to summon the _Blue-Eyes White Dragon_."

The 3000 attack point monster appeared where the Sea-Serpent Type monster had been standing a mere moment ago.

"Blue-Eyes destroy his Indomitable Fighter with _White Lightning_!" shouted Kaiba.

A shot came out of the mighty dragon's mouth and hit Lei Lei.

"I activate _Waboku_," one of LaKota's facedowns flipped face-up, "now the damage I would have taken becomes 0," The blast had broken through Lei Lei and was now coming at LaKota, but it stopped in mid-air and shattered then Lei Lei reappeared, "Ya' done?"

"I end my turn." said a very irritated Kaiba.

"Good," said LaKota as he drew a card, "First I activate my _Obligatory Summon_," LaKota played the Spell from his hand, "Now you have to summon all the cards in your deck that fall into the same category as your Blue-Eyes."

Kaiba smiled, "You fool, now I can summon my other two Blues-Eyes."

The other two dragons appeared on Kaiba's field.

"I'm well aware of the what my move means, but my turn's not over yet," said LaKota as he took another card from his hand, "I'll summon _Jinzo #7_ in attack mode," the purple cyborg stood ready for an attack, "_Jinzo #7 _attack Kaiba directly!"

The cyborg ran at the three dragons, but at the last second he jumped over them and put his fist together as he came crashing down on Kaiba dropping him to 7500 Life Points.

"Not bad for an amateur American duelist, but I'm still going to take you out of this tournament." said Kaiba.

"Amateur American duelist, that was mean, but go ahead and try to beat me because it's your move." said LaKota.

Kaiba drew his card and then took a card from his hand, "I play _Polymerization _and fuse my three _Blue-Eyes White Dragons_ to create the _Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon_," the three dragons swirled together and fused into the three headed dragon with 4500 ATK points, "_Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon_, destroy _Jinzo #7 _with _Neutron Blast_!"

Three beams of energy began to form in the three dragons's mouthes, "Any last words before I rid you of half your Life Points?" asked Kaiba.

"Yeah," said LaKota, "activate _Call of Cosmo Queen_(FAKE)," LaKota's facedown flipped face-up and showed an image of _Cosmo Queen's _shadowwith all of the stars and galaxies in front of her, "This card has a very useful ability, by discarding one DARK monster to my graveyard I can select one card on your field and remove it from play."

"What!" questioned Kaiba.

"So now I discard my _Darkblaze Dragon_(REAL, but it is actually a FIRE attributed monster)to remove from play your _Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon_," said LaKota as waves of sound came out of the trap card and hit _Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon_, shattering it into thousands of pieces, "and now _Call of Cosmo Queen _is shuffled back into my deck via its ability.

"How did that work, _Darkblaze Dragon_ is a FIRE attribute?" asked Kaiba.

"_Perfect Darkness _also works on the monsters in my hand." answered LaKota

Kaiba grimaced, "I end my turn with a facedown."

"Good," said LaKota as he drew a card, "I think I'll play the card I just drew, _Pot of Greed_." LaKota drew two cards, "Now I play _Card of Sanctity_," both LaKota and Kaiba drew until they had six cards in their hands, "Now I summon _Bokoichi the Freightening Car_(REAL)in attack mode," a red train car with a, mean looking face, appeared on the field, "Now Lei Lei attack!"

The Beast-Warrior ran at Kaiba, but Kaiba just smiled.

"I activate _Attack Guidance Armor _and equip it to _Jinzo #7_!"

Lei Lei stopped as the armor flew past him and equipped itself to the purple cyborg. Lei Lei turned and looked at _Jinzo #7_ and ran at him, destroying the monster and dropping LaKota to 6200 then he placed himself in defense mode.

"Not bad Kaiba," said LaKota, "but I saw that coming, Bokoichiattack Kaiba!"

The train car drove towards Kaiba and slammed into him dropping him to 7000 Life Points.

"I end my turn with one facedown." said LaKota with a fanged smile.

"I'll wipe that smile off your face." said Kaiba as he drew a card, "I summon _Vorse Raider_."

The blue leather armored Beast-Warrior appeared on the field in attack mode.

"_Vorse Raider _attack Bokoichi!" said Kaiba.

"Wrong," said LaKota, "Go _Compulsory Evacuation Device_, now your monster is sent back to your hand."

The creature disappeared and the card flew back to his hand.

Kaiba growled, "I end my turn with a facedown."

LaKota drew his card and smiled, "First I'll play one Spell card from my hand, _Double Summon_, and for my first summon I play my _Dark Crusader_." the skull masked warrior appeared, "Next I'll activate his ability by removing another _Darkblaze Dragon _from my hand," the monsters ATK points jumped to 2000, "now I sacrifice Bokoichitosummon _Dark Magician Girl_." the blue and pink suited Spellcaster appeared in the freight car's place, "Next I'll place a card face down, then I'll place Lei Lei in attack mode and attack you directly."

Lei Lei ran at Kaiba ready to take him out.

"Not so fast," said Kaiba, "go _Negate Attack_."

"No ya don't, go _Trap Jammer_(REAL)."

Kaiba's card shattered and Lei Lei's attack continued leaving Kaiba with 4700. Lei Lei then went into defense mode.

"Next I attack with _Dark Crusader_."

The warrior ran at Kaiba with his sword raised and cut his Life Points down to 2700.

"And, last but not least, _Dark Magician Girl_."

She floated toward Kaiba and hit him with her staff, dropping him down to his last 600 Life Points.

"I end my turn with one facedown." said LaKota.

Kaiba drew and smiled, "I may only have 600 Life Points left, but the tables are about to turn, I play _Blue-Eyes Transfiguration_(FAKE)." the ceiling above them began to swirl into a storm, "By removing one Blue-Eyes in my graveyard from the game I can summon _Blue-Eyes_ _White_ _Warrior_(FAKE)." a Blue-Eyes appeared on the field, but then it morphed into a man with wings and armor made out of the dragon's body, "This is a card recently released by Pegasus, and now this 3300 ATK point monster can take out your _Dark Crusader_."

The Warrior flew up and, with one swipe of his clawed hand, LaKota's crusader was gone and his Life Points dropped to 4900.

"Now that the Battle Phase is over you're dealt 500 points of damage for each Blue-Eyes monster in my graveyard."

A ball of lightning formed in the Warrior's hand, and he launched it at LaKota dropping his Life Points to 3900.

"I end my turn." said Kaiba, who laughed at LaKota's pained expression.

LaKota drew a card from his deck, "Okay Kaiba, you just destroyed one of favorite cards. You've officially ticked me off," LaKota took a card from his hand, "I remove from play the two _Darkblaze Dragons _in my graveyard and tribute my _Dark Magician Girl _to summon, _Sky Dragon Valkyrie_!"

Two beams of light came from LaKota's duel disk and wrapped around the Spellcaster. The light faded to reveal the _Dark Magician Girl _with wings, an armor, and a staff that looked like they were made from _Slifer the Sky Dragon _himself. She had 2500 ATK points.

"But that's…" started Kaiba.

"…An extremely rare card that's almost impossible to find?" finished LaKota, "Believe me I know, now back to my turn, I play _Card of Sanctity_." both LaKota and Kaiba drew until they had six cards for a second time, "Hey Kaiba, my monster gains 500 ATK points for each card in my hand, that means you're done for." (For those of you doing the math that's 5500 ATK points.)

_ "Sky Dragon Valkyrie attack with Sky Dragon Staff Blast!"_

The Valkyrie's staff pulled energy towards its top. She flew toward Kaiba and his Warrior then launched the energy ball at them, ridding Kaiba of his Warrior and the last of his Life Points.

LaKota walked to Kaiba's office door, "Well Kaiba, that was fun, but I've got to get to the stadium so I can find out who gets to duel me."

Kaiba fell to his knees and actually gasped for air like he had nearly drowned.

"That sensation of there being no air in your lungs will go away in a little while, and don't worry, as far as anyone knows you just called me in for a chat."

I do not own Sky Dragon Valkyrie, she was created by Nikkiboy029 on YCM Wikia.


	7. Dark Cloud Versus Victor

Chapter 7

Dark Cloud Versus Victor

When LaKota entered the stadium they'd just pick the duels for the main tournament. LaKota spotted his group and walked up to them as the announcer gave out the Wild Cards official tournament bracket.

"The first round of the Wild Cards will be," the screen randomized the images of the ten duelists, then the images stopped, "LaKota versus Victor, Maya versus Tataku, Stephen versus Cheng, Drago versus Ozzy (this name is because they call Australia Oz), and Draganna versus Pedro." the crowd cheered then the announcer continued, "LaKota Dark Cloud and Victor Alexei report to the Aquatic Zone. Drago Soulless and Ozzy Dundee report to the Desert Zone."

LaKota looked at his opponent, he was a very large and muscular man wearing a fur coat believe it or not.

LaKota turned and looked at Stephen and Maya, "Let's head to my first match guys."

Meanwhile, at the Desert Zone, which was a pretty good replication of an actual wasteland, Drago stood in front of his opponent with a jeweled duel disk.

"Are you ready to get walloped?" asked the Australian in front of him.

"It will be you to get the…wallop." said Drago as he drew his hand and both Life Points meters flashed 4000.

LaKota stood in the big aquarium filled room waiting for his opponent.

"Where is that Russian?" asked LaKota as he stood impatiently.

"Maybe your power did its magic again, and you scared him away." said Maya.

Just then Victor walked out from behind a fish tank. He had taken off his furred coat to reveal a sleeveless shirt with fur around the arm holes. Now that LaKota was close to Victor he could see that he had eyes that were as brown as his hair.

"Victor Alexei never scared." he said in a thick Russian accent.

"That's good to know," said LaKota as he walked toward Victor and swapped decks with him, "because you're about to see the most terrifying things that ever existed."

Shadows leaked out from around LaKota and into the fish tanks. The fish within the tanks suddenly morphed into hideous sea creatures that were beyond belief.

The two duelist swapped decks back just as Victor noticed the changes, "What did you do?"

"That's not the half of what I can do," said LaKota as he activated his duel disk and the Life Points meters flashed 4000, "I'll let you go first."

Both players drew five cards and Victor took his turn.

"I play _Gear Golem the Moving Fortress _in defense mode."

A huge machine made up of gears floated above Victor's field. It had 2200 DEF points

"Going defensive, huh," said LaKota, "smart."

"I play one facedown and end my turn." said Victor.

LaKota drew a card and smiled, "Am I lucky or what, I play _Perfect Darkness_," frost began to cover the fish tanks and more shadows appeared, "Next, I'll play Muka Muka who gains 300 ATK for each card in my hand," the bug like creature appeared on the field and turned into its DARK attributed form and its 600 ATK points jumped to 1800, "I'll end my turn with a facedown also."

Victor drew his card, "I summon second _Gear Golem the Moving Fortress_ in defense mode." Another machine appeared on Victor's field, "Then I play one facedown."

LaKota raised an eyebrow, "That's a weird move, you've already got one Gear Golem so why play another?"

"You see soon enough." Said Victor.

"Fine," said LaKota, "I draw and then summon _Jinzo #7_."

The purple skinned cyborg appeared on the field in attack mode.

"Next I attack you directly." shouted LaKota.

Victor did nothing as the 500 ATK point monster jumped up and slammed a fist into his head dropping him to 3500 Life Points.

_"Why didn't he activate one of his facedowns?"_ LaKota thought to himself.

"I'll end my turn with another facedown." said LaKota.

Victor nodded and drew one card, "I summon third Gear Golem in defense mode."

A third machine appeared above Victor.

_"Okay the Gear Golems have to be some kind of strategy, but what?"_ thought LaKota.

"I end turn with facedown." said Victor.

LaKota drew and studied his hand, then he heard the water in the aquarium. Was that flowing water?

In the Desert Zone, Drago had Ozzy down to 2200 Life Points and had his one extremely strong monster on the field in attack mode.

Ozzy, on the other hand, had only brought Drago down to 3300 Life Points and had two monsters in defense mode.

"Your just getting lucky shots, mate." said Ozzy as he drew a card.

Drago smiled and shook his head. Then he heard the wind twisting and twisting until he could see sandstorms forming all around them.

What's going on!" asked Ozzy.

"Ignore it," said Drago, "now where were we, oh yes your destruction."

LaKota finally looked over at the aquariums to see they were overflowing.

"What the heck?" LaKota asked out loud as water surrounded his feet.

"Probably that hacker we heard about," said Stephen, "just keep dueling and pretend it's not happening."

"Right," said LaKota, "I summon _Sangan _in attack mode."

The little three eyed Fiend appeared on the field.

"Next I'll attack you directly with _Jinzo #7_." said LaKota

The cyborg jumped up into the air and brought his fist down on Victor once again which brought him down to 3000.

"I end with one facedown." said LaKota.

Victor drew and smiled, "I sacrifice three Gear Golems to summon, _Roulette Dragon_(FAKE CARD)."

A dragon that appeared to be made of gears and guns appeared on the field. It had no arms and its head appeared to be part of a huge revolver. It had 3000 ATK points.

"Next I activate facedown cards, _Dragon Skeleton_(FAKE CARD) and _Fireball_(FAKE CARD)." said Victor.

Bones appeared on his dragon and it became surrounded by fire.

"Now _Roulette Dragon _treatedlikeDragon-Type and FIRE attribute, plus gain 1100 attack points."

The monsters ATK hit 4100.

"I move to attack you _Jinzo #7_, but first I flip coin to see how many attack my dragon gets."

A coin appeared an flipped itself, it was heads. It flipped again and landed on heads again. It flipped a third time and it landed on tails.

"_Roulette Dragon _can now attack twice, and I take 500 points damage."

Victor's Life point dropped to 2500.

"My dragon attack!" shouted Victor.

"No he won't, because I activate _Negate Attack_." said LaKota.

"I activate _Trap Jammer_." said Victor.

"And I activate a second _Negate Attack_."

The dragon's attack was negated and Victor ended his turn without playing any facedowns.

Back in the Desert Zone Ozzy fell to the ground in searing pain.

"Don't worry," said Drago, "the pain will be gone after I finish my job."

Drago looked at a gold and black ring on his finger. If anyone had been watching the duel the screen would've become static.

A white mist came out of Ozzy's body and it entered Drago's ring.

Drago smiled, "One soul down seven to go."

He exited the area and headed for the Aquatic Zone.

LaKota drew a card and his eyes went blank.

"Victor I'm gonna end this quickly because I'm getting tired of your dueling style." said LaKota.

Victor gave a confused look.

"Oh," said LaKota, "let me slow it down for you. You spent the first three turns trying to get three monsters and two equip Spell cards for one monster. One of first rules of dueling is, rely on your entire deck not just one card."

"You fool," said Victor, "All anyone need is one card."

"We shall see," said LaKota, "I play _Card of Sanctity_."

They each drew until they had six cards.

"Next I'll summon my _Dark Crusader _in attack mode." said LaKota, "Now I activate _Ultimate Offering_." LaKota smiled, "Now I give up 500 Life Points to sacrifice _Jinzo #7_ and _Muka Muka_ to summon _Dark Magician_."

Yugi's favorite card appeared on the field and LaKota's Life Points dropped to 3500.

"Next I play the Spell card _Dark Magic Attack_, which sends the two Spell cards on the field to the graveyard."

_Roulette Dragon's_ ATK dropped back down to 3000.

"Now I sacrifice _Dark Crusader _and _Sangan_ to summon her majesty the _Cosmo Queen_!"

The beautiful purple woman appeared on the field next to her fellow Spellcaster and LaKota was left with 3000 Life Points.

LaKota's black outfit became white and he smiled.

"Nice outfit change." said Victor.

"Says the guy wearing a shirt with fur on the sleeves." LaKota smiled, "Now I equip her with _Cosmic_ _Combine_(FAKE CARD) which will give her 300 ATK points for every monster that's removed from play."

"Which is none." said Victor.

"I'll have three when I play _Death of Dark Spirits _which allows me to remove from play all DARK attributed monsters in my graveyard." said LaKota.

_Cosmo_ _Queen's_ ATK became 3800.

"Who is depending on one card now?" asked Victor.

"Not me," said LaKota, "those monsters I removed from play I was depending on as soon as I summoned them and I respect them for allowing me to use their lives to make _Cosmo Queen _stronger." LaKota gave his signature fanged smile.

"Go get'em little bro." said Stephen.

"Oh I love this part." said Maya.

"_Cosmo_ _Queen_," yelled LaKota, "attack _Roulette Dragon_ with _Big Nova_!"

A ball of energy formed in the queen's hands. She made the ball expand to the size of a beach ball then threw it at _Roulette Dragon_ who shattered and left Victor with 1700 Life Points.

"Now I'll end it with _Dark Magician's Dark Magic Attack_!"

The Spellcaster attacked and dropped Victor down to 0.

As the monsters on the field disappeared and LaKota's outfit returned to its original color, Victor fell to his knees.

He was about to walk over to Victor when he saw him rear back in pain and a white mist float out of his body.

He saw Drago behind him.

"Drago, you monster!" yelled LaKota.

"My dear Mr. Dark Cloud I'd just as soon not talk to you since it is your brother and his ring of gold and sliver that I'm after."

"Yeah," said Stephen, "well you'll have to beat me first."

"I will when we duel in the final round." said Drago, sure of himself.

"You'll have go through me first." said LaKota.

"Oh," said Drago, "you mean beat the duelist who failed his father?"

LaKota clenched his fist, "Mark me Drago, you'll regret you ever said that."

Drago smiled and walked off. Then the announcer's voice came over an intercom, "Congrats Wild Cards of the first duels. Now, Stephen Firestorm and Cheng Wong report to the Canyon Zone. Draganna Soulless and Pedro Estevez report to the Mountain Zone."

They all exited the aquarium and when they were gone the fish reverted to their normal form.

I do not own Dragon Skeleton or Fireball. I don't know who Dragon Skeleton was created by, but Fireball was created by Pipo Destruction and they're both on YCM Wikia.


	8. Fierstorm Versus Cheng

Chapter 8

Firestorm Versus Cheng

They walked around the amusement park looking for this so called Canyon Zone.

Suddenly LaKota and his group ran into Yugi and Co, literally.

They all fell backwards.

"Hey Yugi," said LaKota, "where's the fire?"

"Sorry LaKota," said Yugi, "my granpa went missing. Have you seen him?"

"No," said LaKota, "but would you happen to know where the Canyon Zone is?"

"Yeah," said Joey, "we just passed it a couple of minutes ago."

As they all got up LaKota and his group thanked Yugi and his friends for the help.

"Hope you find you Granpa, Yugi." said Maya.

"Me, too." said Yugi.

Then the groups went on there ways.

Draganna stood on a fake mountain top looking at her opponent.

"You'll regret you ever met me, Draganna," said Pedro, "because I'm here to help my family and I won't go down without a fight."

"You talk big for someone so young," said Draganna, "but that won't stop me from ripping you apart."

LaKota and his group entered the Canyon Zone.

Standing near the edge of a cliff was Stephen's opponent.

"Ah," said Cheng, "you finally here. You want keep me waiting all day?"

"No," said Stephen as he activated his duel disk, "but you be talkin' funny plus what's up with that ponytail?"

Cheng scowled at Stephen, then activated his duel disk, which looked like it was made out of jade.

_**"LET'S DUEL!"**_

Both duel disk set themselves to 4000.

"I'll start," said Stephen, "and that'll be by summoning _Little Flame_(FAKE)."

A small fire lit itself and then grew into a short troll with 500 ATK points.

"Next I'll use _Double Fire_(FAKE)." said Stephen as he placed a Spell card on the field, "Now, because I summoned a FIRE attributed monster this turn, I can summon another FIRE monster. So, I summon _Pyro Knight_(FAKE)."

A man wearing an armor with a fiery design on it stood on Stephen's field. He had 1600 ATK.

"I end my turn with one facedown." said Stephen.

Cheng drew a card and smiled, "I summon _Jade Dragon's Egg_(FAKE) in DEF mode."

An egg made of a beautiful green stone with 2000 DEF points appeared on the field.

"Now I play _Jade_ _Egg-splosion_(FAKE)." said Cheng.

A Spell card with an image of five _Jade Dragon's Eggs_ arranged in an X appeared on the field.

"Now, I summon 2 _Jade Egg Tokens _once every turn." said Cheng.

One Token appeared on his field, but the other appeared on Stephen's.

"What's the big idea?" asked Maya, "That's Cheng's monster."

"Because effect allows me to summon anywhere." said Cheng, "I end my turn with one facedown and activate the effect of my Token."

The jade egg on Stephen's field began to glow, then fire shot out off of it and hit Stephen in the chest, which dropped his Life points to 3500.

"Now at end of each of my turns you take 500 damage." said Cheng.

Stephen drew a card to start his turn and smiled, "I'll start with my _Pyro Knight's_ effect and rid myself of your _Jade Egg Token_."

_Pyro Knight _raised his sword, which shot fire out of it and turned the Token into a rain of green shards.

"Now you take 500 points of damage, due to the second half of his effect." said Stephen.

The Knight pointed his sword at Cheng and shot a stream of fire at him, dropping his Life Points to 3500.

"Nice," said Maya, "Stephen made them even again."

"Yeah," said LaKota, "but this duel is just starting."

"Now," said Stephen, "I activate his next effect to look at the top card of your deck. If it's a monster I can summon it to my field, otherwise it's sent to your graveyard."

_ Pyro Knight_ threw his sword at Cheng's deck, it stuck and flew back to his hand with a card attached to the tip, then he tossed the card to Stephen.

"I hope you don't need this _Negate Attack _Trap card." said Stephen with a smile, Cheng just glared, "Next I summon one of my favorite monsters, _Solar Flare Dragon_(REAL)."

A dragon that was similar to a Chinese dragon made of lava rock and fire appeared. He had horns on his head and spines down his back. The beast smiled at Cheng, revealing razor sharp teeth. He had 1500 ATK points.

"Well, that's thing useless," said Cheng, "my _Jade Dragon's Egg _have 2000 DEF." said Cheng.

Stephen smiled, "Yeah, but by playing my _Soul Fire_(FAKE) and equipping it to my _Pyro Knight_ he'll have 100 more ATK than you have DEF."

A fiery aura formed around the knight and his ATK became 2100.

"_Pyro Knight _attack with _Fiery Excalibur_!"

He ran at the egg, his sword drawn and ready to shatter the thing.

"I activate _Jade Barrier Gong_(FAKE)." said Cheng.

A gong made of the same green stone as the egg appeared in front of _Pyro Knight._ The warrior hit the gong blocking his attack, then the sound waves bounced off and hit _Little Flame_.

The little Pyro-Type monster shattered and Stephen's Life Points dropped to 3000.

"How did that happen?" asked Maya.

"That trap card's ability not only blocks an attack but send another attack back at one of your opponent's monsters and then deals damage to them equal to the destroyed monster's ATK points." answered LaKota.

Stephen smiled, "Thanks for activating my _Little Flame's _special ability. I can now summon _Medium Flame_(FAKE)in ATK mode."

A flame lit itself on the field and then it took the form of a skinny red goblin with 1500 ATK points.

"Now I end my turn." said Stephen.

Cheng was about to draw when, suddenly, _Solar Flare Dragon _shot a fireball at him, dropping his Life Points to 3000.

"You end turn," said Cheng, "How your monster do that?"

"As long as _Solar Flare Dragon _is on the field, you'll take 500 points of damage every time I end my turn." said Stephen with a big fanged smile.

Cheng just growled and drew his card, then he smiled.

"I summon second _Jade_ _Dragon's_ _Egg_," another green stone egg appeared on his field, "now I play two _Jade Egg Tokens_." two more of the eggs appeared on the field, bringing Cheng up to five, "Now, I sacrifice all jade eggs to Special Summon, _Black Jade Dragon_(FAKE)!"

The eggs cracked and exploded, in their place stood a huge dragon made out of stone so green it was black. He had three pairs of wings and two pairs of arms. He had two tails that ended in sharp spikes and his legs looked extremely powerful. The beast had 3000 ATK points.

"Now two _Black Jade Dragon Tokens _played." said Cheng.

Two smaller versions of the gigantic beast appeared on the field but they had 0 ATK points.

"My monster gain one extra attack for every one of these Tokens," said Cheng, "now my monster attack your _Solar Flare Dragon_."

"You can't." said Stephen.

"Why," asked Cheng, "cause you say?"

"No," said Stephen, "because my two other Pyro-Types say. You see as long as I have another Pyro-Type monster on the field, you can't attack my _Solar Flare Dragon_."

"Fine," said Cheng, "dragon, attack _Pyro Knight_!"

The dragon spat a black stone at the warrior.

"I activate the ability of _Medium Flame _and negate your attack." said Stephen.

The goblin threw a small fireball at the black stone and it shattered, stopping the attack.

"I attack _Medium Flame_." said Cheng.

"I activate _Semi-Permeable Wall_," said Stephen, "Though my monster is destroyed I take no damage from that attack."

A liquidy wall appeared in front of Stephen just as the dragon launched its attack.

The black stone hit the wall and it stretched through it and hit _Medium Flame_, destroying him. The black stone then shattered.

"And since you destroyed my _Medium Flame_ I can summon _Large Flame _in ATK mode."

A giant made out of fire appeared on the field. He had 2000 ATK point.

"Now attack _Pyro Knight_!" shouted Cheng unfazed by this new threat.

A black stone flew out of the dragon's mouth and destroyed Stephen's knight.

Cheng smiled as Stephen's Life Points dropped to 2100.

"Your move."

Pedro rolled down the fake mountain he'd been standing on and hit the ground hard as his Life Points hit 0.

Draganna walked down to the bottom at the same time and met him down there.

"You feel bad right now," she said as she held up her ring, "but in few seconds you won't feel anything."

A white mist lifted out of Pedro's limp body and it entered her ring.

She walked out of the Mountain Zone and turned to look for the Canyon Zone.

Stephen smiled at the card he drew.

"This duel is over Cheng," said Stephen, "first I play the Spell card _Triple Flare_. Now, I can summon my other two _Solar Flare Dragon's _to the field."

Two more of the fiery dragons appeared on the field next to the original.

Cheng smiled, "You think those stop me?"

"They will when I play my _Polymerization_." said Stephen as the three monster fused at there snake like bodies. They grew arms and a pair of bat-like wing appeared on their back. The beast had 4500 ATK points.

Stephen's outfit turned white, and the flame at the bottom of his jacket lit themselves but he didn't burn.

"Now I attack your _Black Jade Dragon_ with _Triple Nova_!"

Three giant fireballs flew at the jade dragon, who became nothing more than a rain of shards.

Cheng's Life Points dropped to 1500.

"So," said Cheng, "I still have Tokens and I can defeat you next turn."

"There won't be a next turn," said Stephen, "because when I end my turn you'll take 1500 points of damage."

"But that's," said Cheng, "all my Life Point."

"Bye, Bye." said Stephen as he ended his turn.

Stephen's dragon fired his attack and dropped Cheng's Life Points to 0.

Cheng fell backwards confused by what had just happened, then he appeared to be in pain as a white mist exited his body and flew towards a figure on the other side of the canyon.

"Draganna." said Maya in disgust.

Stephen growled, "You evil, soul stealing, witch!"

She just smiled and walked away.

The announcer's voice came on, "Congrats winning duelists. You've all done well and only one more match before we decide the second round. Due to a small complication the next duel will be held in one of KaibaLand's state of the art duel arenas, so Maya Ramirez and Tataku Panther please report to Duel Arena B.

They left the Canyon Zone and headed for the final duel of Round 1.


	9. Ramirez Versus Tataku, The Rule Change

Chapter 9

Ramirez Versus Tataku, The Rule Change

The group of three entered the dueling arena and were greeted by the roar of the crowd. They sat in the stands ready to watch these wild cards duel to the death.

Kaiba sat in a private box in the stands looking slightly beaten. LaKota wondered what this so called "complication" was.

Then the announcer came on, "Before the final duel of Round 1 gets underway our gracious host, Seto Kaiba, would like to make an announcement."

Kaiba stood, "Wild card duelists, there's been a slight change in the rules, due to the lacking number of duelists one competitor shall be chosen to be the duelist in the final match."

A man in a black dress suit walked up behind Kaiba and took a seat.

"Drago Soulless has been selected as the competitor." said Kaiba, "Now, on with the…"

"Excuse me." said LaKota, Kaiba turned and looked at him.

"What do you want?" said Kaiba, obviously angry about speaking with this particular wild card.

"I was just wondering, who gave you this particular idea." asked LaKota.

"Not that it's any of your business," said Kaiba, "but this rule change was suggested to me by Drago."

Drago smiled wickedly and stood, "And I've another great suggestion, how about instead of a one on one duel between me and the winner of Round 3, you make it a three way duel between me and both winners of Round 2?"

Kaiba seemed to like this idea and said, "You Americans sure like having the odds against you, but that sound like a good idea. The winners of the second round will duel Drago Soulless for the chance to duel Yugi Moto after his duel with Leon Wilson."

LaKota should've seen this coming, Drago knew if he was kept from dueling until the last round he would have plenty of time to steal souls and take Stephen's ring.

"Now let's get this duel underway."

Maya took her spot at the duel field, and looked at her opponent.

He wore a mask that looked like a big bird head, he didn't wear a shirt, showing his black skin, but he did wear a shoulder piece that had a cape on it. He also wore a long loincloth that just touched the floor.

LaKota looked up and saw Yugi and his friends in the front row and two seat available next to Yugi.

"Maya," said LaKota, "we'll be in the stands."

LaKota walked over and tapped Yugi on the shoulder, "Those seats taken?"

"Hey LaKota," said Yugi (normal Yugi), "no the seats aren't taken."

LaKota and Stephen took their seats, LaKota's was right next to Yugi.

"This should be an interesting duel." said LaKota.

"Why's that?" asked Yugi.

"From what I heard about this Tataku guy, he uses the a _Wild_ _Spirit_ deck, and Maya uses a _Wild_ _Cat_ deck." said Stephen.

"Yeah," said LaKota, "two deck types that are worst enemies."  
Yugi nodded, this would be interesting.

The Life Points meters set themselves to 4000 and both duelists drew five cards.

"Tataku shall make the first move." announced Kaiba.

Tataku looked at his hand then chose a card.

"I summon _Wild Spirit Leo_(FAKE)." he said.

A ghost-like lion with 2000 ATK points appeared on the field.

"Next I end my turn with one facedown."

Maya drew a card and smiled, "I play the Spell card _Roar of the Wild Cats_(FAKE). Now I can summon every _Wild Cat _monster in my hand to the field in ATK mode."

Maya took three cards from her hand.

"Now I summon _Wild Cat Mountain Queen_(FAKE)," a mountain lion stood on the field, she had 1700 ATK points, "_Wild Cat Tigress_(FAKE)," a tiger appeared on the field next to the other cat, she had 1800 ATK points, "and _Wild Cat Black Panther_(FAKE)." a panther with 1900 ATK points appeared on the field, "sadly the effect of the Spell prevents me from attacking this turn so I'll throw two cards facedown and end my turn."

Yugi was impressed, "She already has three monsters on the field."

"Believe me, Yugi," said LaKota, "Maya hasn't even begun to revealed her true claws yet."

Tataku drew a card.

"I activate my facedown, _Leo's Call_(FAKE)," he said, "Now, while I have _Wild Spirit Leo_ on the field, I can summon _Wild Spirit Tiger_(FAKE)and _Wild Spirit Jaguar_(FAKE)from my hand or deck."

A ghost like tiger and jaguar appeared on the field. They each had 1900 ATK points.

"Now my Leo attacks your Black Panther!" shouted Tataku.

The ghost lion ran at Maya's panther, its fangs ready to rip it to shreds.

"I activate _Sakuretsu Armor_(REAL)." said Maya as one of her facedowns flipped face up.

Leo shatter before he even reached Panther.

"Fine," said Tataku, "But when one of my _Wild Spirits _is destroyed, I can give up 200 Life Points to bring it back to my hand."

His Life Points dropped to 3800, and the card flew back into his hand.

"Now my Tiger attacks your Tigress!"

The spirit ran at Tigress.

"I activate the ability of Black Panther," said Maya, "when a monster other than itself is attacked I can negate the attack and then add half of the attacking monster's ATK to his own."

Tiger stopped and turned around, when he got back to his own field his ATK points dropped to 950.

Then Black Panther's ATK jumped to 2850.

"Fine," said Tataku, "my Jaguar attacks your Mountain Queen!"

The spirit cat ran at Maya's weakest monster.

"That's what you think," said Maya, "go _Wild Cat Shield_(FAKE)!"

Maya's last trap card flipped face-up and an energy shield appeared around Mountain Queen.

"Now," said Maya, "I can place my Mountain Queen in DEF mode and she gains an additional 500 DEF points. Plus, she can no longer be destroyed by battle."

Mountain Queen's original DEF points, which were 2000, jumped to 2500.

Jaguar's attack continued and he collided with Mountain Queen's shield, and Tataku's Life points dropped to 3200.

Tataku growled, "I play a facedown and end my turn."

"What an excellent strategy," said Granpa, "now the next time Tataku attacks Tigress, Maya can activate the ability of Black Panther to steal more attack points from another monster to make it even stronger.

"And even if he gets a monster with an ATK that's higher than Mountain Queen DEF, she won't be destroyed." Yugi pointed out.

"Yeah," said LaKota, "but Maya is just play with her query right now. Wait till she really turns up the heat."

Maya drew her card and smiled, "I play _Card_ _of_ _Sanctity_."

They both drew until they each had six cards.

"Next I'll summon _Wild Cat Lioness_(FAKE)!" said Maya.

A female jungle lion appeared on the field, she had 1700 ATK points.

"Then I'll equip her with the Spell card _Wild Cat Armor_(FAKE) to raise her ATK by 700."

Lioness's ATK became 2400.

"Now I activate _Mystical Space Typhoon_." said Maya.

Tataku's facedown shattered.

"I attack your Tiger with my Lioness." she said.

Lioness ran at Tiger and cut him in half and dropped Tataku's Life Points to 1750.

"I give up 200 Life Points to bring Tiger back to my hand,' said Tataku, "and I activate his other effect to summon _Wild Spirit Leo _back to the field from my hand."

The ghostly lion appeared back on the field in ATK mode Tataku's Life Points dropped to 1550.

"I end my turn with two facedowns." said Maya.

"That's a strange move," said Yugi, "she could've ended the duel right there by attacking with Black Panther."

LaKota smiled, "As your Granpa can probably tell you, only one Wild Cat monster can attack per turn."

"Is that true Mr. Moto?" asked Tristan.

"Yes Tristan it is," said Granpa, "and a weakness like that can give an enemy a big opening."

"You call it a weakness," said LaKota, "but Maya calls it a strength."

Everyone gave LaKota a strange look.

"You'll see," said LaKota, "keep watching."

Tataku drew a card and gave a triumphant smile.

"I play the Spell card, _Ritual of Summoning Wild Spirits_(FAKE)," he said, "now if I have any open spaces on the field, I can summon the same number of monster from my hand or deck. So I summon my _Wild Spirits Giraffe_(FAKE),_ Hyena_(FAKE), and _Gazelle_(FAKE)."

The three ghost like animals appeared on the field.

"Now," said Tataku, "I sacrifice all five of my Wild Spirits to summon _Wild Spirit Winged King_(FAKE)."

All five monsters disappeared and a ghost-like African man, that looked like Tataku but with wings, appeared on the field. It had 3900 ATK points.

"Now I attack your Black Panther!" shouted Tataku.

The monster flew at the black jungle cat.

"Not when I activate a second _Wild Cat Shield_."

A energy shield appeared around Black Panther, and he changed to DEF mode and its 2700 DEF points jumped to 3200.

"Yes," said Tataku, "but my Winged King can deal you damage even when your monster is in DEF mode."

The monsters attack hit Black Panther but he still stood on the field due to the effect of the shield and Maya's Life Points dropped to 3300.

"And now," said Tataku, "I gain Life Points equal to the damage you took."

Tataku's Life Points jumped to 2250.

"I end my turn with that." he said.

"Hang in there Maya." said LaKota.

"Do you think she'll be able to turn this around?" Yugi asked LaKota.

"Of course she will," he answered, "she always dose. Even when I dueled her for first time."

Maya drew her card and smiled.

"Just what I've been waiting for," said Maya, "I summon my _Wild Cat Cheetah_(FAKE)."

A cheetah with 1600 ATK points appeared on the field.

"Now I play _Polymerization_ to fuse together all five of my five Wild Cats to summon, _Wild Cats Feline Queen_!" said Maya as her five monsters swirled together.

In their place stood a white lion with golden tiger stripes, cheetah spots, and the build of a cheetah. She had five tails, four were those of a cheetah and the one in the middle was that of a tiger, but she had zero attack points.

"What is she going to do," asked Tataku, mockingly, "purred me to sleep."

"Actually, her original ATK is equal to half of the combined original ATK of the five Wild Cats used to summon her."

Feline Queen's 0 ATK points quickly jumped to 4350.

"Now I attack your monster with _Queen's Golden Fang_!"

Feline Queen ran at Winged King with her huge fangs and destroyed him, lowering Tataku to 2000.

"I can now use his ability to and give up 400 Life Points to return him to the field in DEF mode." said Tataku.

Winged King reappeared on the field kneeling on one knee. He had 4000 DEF points, and Tataku's Life Points dropped to 1600.

Maya smiled, "Ya know Tataku, I've enjoyed this duel, but it's time to end this. I activate _Wild Cat Soul_(FAKE)!"

A strange aura surrounded Feline Queen.

"When this card is activated any of my Wild Cats that have already attacked can attack again but this time directly." said Maya, "Now Feline Queen attack with _Roaring Lioness Slash_!"

Feline Queen ran at Tataku jumped up then came down with a slash, reduce his Life Points to 0.

The crowd cheered loudly, no one seemed to notice the white mist lifting off of Tataku's body and entering Drago's ring.

"What was that?" asked Yugi.

"That," said LaKota whispering, "was a person's soul entering the ring of a Soul Eater."

The Pharaoh appeared next to Yugi.

_"I thought_ _you said_ _they_ _ate_ _them?" _said the Pharaoh.

"They do," said LaKota in a whisper, "but only at a special, secret ritual. Until that ritual they place them in rings for safe keeping."

"Why is everyone acting like it's not happening?" asked Yugi.

"Because only people like me, or my brother, or Maya, or you, or the Pharaoh can see them stealing them." said LaKota still whispering.

The announcer then came on, "Well it appears that Mr. Panther is severely drained from his duel, so our paramedics on hand will take him to the infirmary."

Two men placed Tataku on a stretcher and carried him off.

"And now," said the announcer, "it's time to decide the Wild Card Tournament's Semi-Finals."

The huge screen they'd used earlier to decide previous rounds showed pictures of LaKota, Maya, Stephen, and Draganna. Then the pictures started to shuffle around until they finally stopped with Stephen's picture next to Draganna's and LaKota's next to Maya's.

"And there you have it folks, Stephen Firestorm versus Draganna Soulless and LaKota Dark Cloud versus Maya Ramirez."

The crowd cheered.

Yugi looked at LaKota.

_"You'll be_ _dueling_ _the_ _person_ _who_ _turned_ _your_ _life_ _around." _said the Pharaoh.

LaKota looked over at Maya, and she winked.

"I'm not too worried," said LaKota, "I've been planning to ask her for a rematch."

"Yeah," said Stephen, "and I've been dying to get my hands on one of those Soul Eaters all tournament."

They both had confident looks on their faces and they seemed like they'd know it'd come down to this.

As Stephen took his place at the field he seemed willing to risk anything to beat the Soul Eater standing before him.


	10. Firestorm Versus Draganna

Chapter 10

Stephen Firestorm Versus Draganna Soulless

Both duelists drew five cards for their starting hands and their Life Points flashed 4000.

"The saying is 'ladies first'," said the announcer, "so Ms. Soulless shall go first."

Draganna drew one card from her deck.

"I'll start this by summoning _Black Gem Pawn_(FAKE)."

A warrior wearing armor made of onyx and had 1500 ATK points appeared on the field.

"You're starting with that same move from your other duels?" asked Stephen.

"If something isn't broken don't try to fix it," said Draganna, "and using this strategy will soon give me that lovely ring of yours. Now, I play a facedown and end my turn."

Yugi looked at LaKota, "Why does she want his ring?"

LaKota looked at Yugi and his friends, who were also curious to why she want just a simply pieces of jewelry with a Roman numeral on it.

"At the 'company' I work for there are very few 'employees' who've been given a ring that shows sort of their rank for beating people like Draganna."

Pharaoh looked at LaKota, _"So the number on the ring represents the number of Soul Eaters he's beaten."_

LaKota nodded.

"How many of Draganna's people has Stephen beaten?" asked Yugi.

"95," said LaKota, "more than any other employee with a ring."

Stephen drew a card and smiled, "What luck, I drew my _Solar Flare Dragon_."

Stephen summoned his favorite monster to the field. The dragon roared at it's opponent.

"And you said I was using a predictable strategy," said Draganna, "you used that same move on a previous opponent."

"Not to give you credit," said Stephen, "but if isn't broke don't fix. Now I play _Double Flame_ and summon _Pyro Knight_."

The fiery armored warrior appeared on the field.

"Next I'll end my turn with two facedowns."

Just as Stephen set his cards down his dragon shot a fire at Draganna and dropped her Life Point's to 3500.

"My move," said Draganna, "and I summon _Black Gem Bishop_(FAKE)."

A priest appeared on the field, he had 2000 ATK points.

"Now I'll destroy your knight with my Bishop."

Bishop ran at the Pyro-Type monster.

"I use my Trap card, _Flare Barrier_." said Stephen.

A wall flew up in front of Stephen's knight.

"Now my monster stays on the field, and we both take 500 points of damage." said Stephen, and as his Life Points dropped to 3500 he seemed to be in pain.

Draganna's Life Points dropped to 3000.

"Why dose Stephen look like he's in pain?" asked Yugi.

"I'd think you'd know why Yugi." said LaKota.

Yugi thought about it and realized that it must be Stephen actual life force feeling the pain of the attack.

"I end my turn." said Draganna.

"Good," said Stephen, "I can now activate the ability of my knight and look at the top card of your deck."

_Pyro Knight _threw his sword and grabbed the top card of Draganna's deck.

"Oh look," said Stephen, "it's your _Black Gem Rook_."

A giant that was made out of a castle that was made of black stone appeared on Stephen's field, it had 2500 ATK points.

"Next I attack your Pawn with Rook." said Stephen.

"Nice try," said Draganna, "but I activate my facedown, _Black Gem Mind Controller_(FAKE)."

A crown made out of black gemstone appeared on Rook's head.

"Now I can take control of an attacking monster and bring it to my field." said Draganna.

Rook dematerialized then reappeared on Draganna field.

"Fine," said Stephen, "I'll end my turn with another facedown."

Stephen's dragon fired again and dropped Draganna to 2500 Life Points.

Draganna drew a card and smiled, "I play the Spell card, _Black Gem Promotion_(FAKE) to turn my _Black Gem Pawn _into a _Black Gem Knight_(FAKE)."

Draganna's Pawn disappeared and was replaced with a knight wearing a black gemstone armor and riding a horse. It had 3000 ATK points

"Next I summon another _Black Gem Pawn_."

Another Pawn appeared.

"Now I play _Black Gem Ritual_(FAKE)," a fire became lit on the field, "now I can summon _Black Gem King_(FAKE) by removing Black Gem monsters in my deck that have levels that equal 7."

A king wearing all black appeared on the field with 3500 ATK points.

"Wait," said Joey, "how can she summon a Ritual monster with cards from her deck?"  
"The ability of all Black Gem monsters is the ability to be used as tribute even if they're in your deck." said Maya.

"Now I'll attack your _Pyro Knight_ with my Bishop." said Draganna.

"No," said Stephen, "you won't, because I've got another _Flare Barrier_."

The attack stopped and Stephen's Life Points dropped to 3000 and Draganna's to 2000.

"Fine," said Draganna, "I attack _Pyro Knight _with _Black Gem King_."

"Go _Negate Attack_!" shouted Stephen.

"You're really making me mad now." said Draganna, "I end with one facedown."

Stephen drew a card, "I play _Card of Sanctity_."

They both drew until they had six cards.

"Next I activate _Pyro_ _Knight's _ability and take a card from your deck." said Stephen.

The fiery knight threw his sword once again and pulled back a card.

"Would you look at that," said Stephen, "its _Polymerization_."

The Spell card shattered.

"Next I'll attack your Pawn with _Pyro Knight_." said Stephen.

The knight shot fire from his blade at the pawn.

"Go _Sakuretsu Armor_!" shouted Draganna.

The fire from the blade turned and hit _Pyro Knight_, destroying him.

"Fine," said Stephen, "I end my turn with a facedown."

Stephen's dragon fired and dropped Draganna to 1500 Life Points.

Draganna drew a card.

"I have to thank you Stephen." she said, "If hadn't played that Spell card I probably wouldn't have drawn the one card I truly needed." She smiled, "I sacrifice all five of my Black Gem monsters to summon _Black Gem Queen_(FAKE)."

All five of Draganna's monsters shattered into pieces of rock, but they were replaced by a 20' tall woman wearing black robes. She had 4000 ATK points.

"Whoa," said Yugi, "That's one big monster."

"That's not the half of it." said LaKota.

"I activate her ability to deal you damage equal to half the ATK of a monster in my graveyard, as long as I remove that monster from play."

A ghost-like form of _Black Gem Knight _appeared and ran at Stephen, dropping him to 1500 Life Points.

"Now I attack your _Solar Flare Dragon _to end this." said Draganna.

The queen pulled out a sword and slashed straight through the Pyro-Type.

"I activate the Trap card _Pyro Pendulum_(FAKE)." said Stephen, "Now the 2500 points of damage I would've taken is cut in half."

Stephen's Life Point's dropped to 250.

Draganna smiled, "Then I finish you of next turn, I end."

Stephen drew, "There won't be a next turn, because I play _Triple Flare_ and can now summon all three of my _Solar Flare Dragons_, even if one is in the graveyard."

All three of the beast appeared on the field.

"Next I play _Polymerization _to summon _Solar Trio Dragon_." said Stephen.

The three headed, winged dragon with 4500 ATK points appeared on the field.

Suddenly the fire design on Stephen's jacket burst into flame.

"What the…" said Yugi.

"That's new." said Joey.

"Just special effects." said LaKota.

Draganna's eyes went wide, "But if you end your turn now I'll lose."

"True," said Stephen, "but first I want you to witness your favorite monster's defeat, _Solar Trio Dragon_ attack with _Triple Nova_."

The dragon shot a huge fireball at _Black Gem Queen_ who shattered into pieces and dropping Draganna to 1000 Life Points.

"Now I end my turn." said Stephen.

The dragon fired another blast dropping Draganna to 0.

The crowd cheered but got quiet as they saw a strange fire rap around her. Her skin started to crack, as did the ring on her finger.

Draganna suddenly exploded into a cloud of dust and two balls of white mist floated away from the cloud.

Then the fires on Stephen's jacket died and his ring glowed.

"What, what was…" started the announcer, "what was that?"

Kaiba stood, "That was a mere hologram malfunction, the tournament shall continue."

The announcer nodded then said, "Congratulations Stephen Firestorm, you are now the first duelist for the final round, but who will be the second duelist? LaKota Dark Cloud and Maya Ramirez please report to the arena."

"Well," said LaKota as he looked at his best friend, "it looks like I can finally get pay back for our first duel."

"We'll see who'll be getting pay back, you still owe me a duel for going to the introduction by your self." said Maya.

"Bring it." said LaKota.

They both jumped out of the stands and ran to there places.

Stephen then took his seat.

On closer inspection of the ring Yugi realized it had a roman numeral for 96 on it now.

In the infirmary two duelist, a Chinese man and a boy from South America, roes up from there beds.

"What happened?" asked the Chinese man, "The last thing I remember is losing my duel to Stephen."

"I think we've been released from whatever was keeping us unconscious." said the South American boy.

Just then, the TV in the infirmary came on and they saw that the next duel was starting.


	11. LaKota Dark Cloud Versus Maya Ramirez

Chapter 11

LaKota Dark Cloud Versus Maya Ramirez

Both friends drew until they each held five cards.

"Maya Ramirez shall make the first move." said the announcer.

Maya drew one card from her deck.

"What luck." said Maya, "I drew _Roar of the Wild Cats_, now I can summon all five of the Wild Cats in my hand. So say hello to, _Wild Cat Saber_(FAKE)," a saber toothed tiger with 2000 ATK points appeared, "_Wild Cat Tigress_," the female tiger with 1800 ATK appeared, "_Wild Cat Leopard_," a leopard with 1600 ATK appeared, "_Wild Cat Cheetah_," another 1600 ATK point cat appeared on the field, "and finally _Wild Cat White Panther_(FAKE)." A white version of the panther Maya played in her last duel appeared, it had 1900 ATK.

"Whoa," said Joey, "did that girl actually fill her field on her first turn?"

"Yeah," said Stephen, "Maya loves to play rough."  
"It won't really matter will it Yugi?" asked Tea, "I mean only one of her Wild Cats can attack per turn."

"That doesn't really matter Tea," said Yugi, "as long as she has at least one monster on the field LaKota will never get a straight shot at her Life Points."

"I'll now use the abilities of White Panther to replenish my hand with five new cards." said Maya.

She drew five cards and took one.

"I'll play a card facedown and end my turn."

LaKota drew a card.

"Well Maya you've started off this duel the same way you started our last one," he said as he took a card from his hand, "allow me to change things up with _Perfect Darkness_."

The air in the arena became cold and wisps of shadows appeared everywhere.

Tea shivered, "W…why did it get so c…cold all of sudden?"

"Maybe K…Kaiba forgot to pay the electric bill." said Tristan.

"I've never seen such a card before." said Granpa.

"Nor have I Solomon." said Prof. Hopkins.

Yugi and the Pharaoh remained silent as the duel unfolded.

"Next I'll play a card you're familiar with," said LaKota, "rise _Dark Crusader_!"

LaKota's black clad warrior with 1600 ATK appeared on the field.

"LaKota," said Maya, "correct me if I'm wrong but aren't all of my monsters still stronger?"

"They are now," said LaKota, "but I equip my crusader with _Crusader Claw_ and activate his ability by discarding, the now DARK attributed, _Darkblaze_ _Dragon_."

A metal claw appeared on the warrior's hand and his ATK became 2200.

"Wait," said Joey, "isn't _Darkblaze Dragon_ a FIRE monster?"

"_Perfect Darkness_ makes all monsters in LaKota's hand and on his field into DARK monsters." stated Stephen.

"Now I attack Leopard," said LaKota, "go _Shadow Buster_!"

LaKota's Crusader ran at the spotted cat.

"Go _Wild Cat Shield_." said Maya as her facedown activated.

Leopard switched to its 1200 DEF points which jumped to 1700.

"That doesn't matter because my Crusader now deals piercing battle damage." said LaKota as his attack continued.

It hit and though Leopard still stood, Maya's Life Points dropped to 3500.

"I'll end with one facedown." said LaKota as his monster returned to its side of the field.

Maya drew a card and looked at LaKota.

"Time out, LaKota." said Maya.

The crowd gasped.

"What's this," said announcer, "Maya has asked to pause her own turn."

"LaKota," said Maya, "I'd like to remind you what's at stake here."

"I know," said LaKota, "whoever wins this goes with Stephen to defeat Drago."

"Not only that" said Maya, "but the person that wins this duel has to be the one willing to sacrifice the other to get to that goal."

"What are you…?"

"Don't act so dense LaKota," Maya continued, "every time someone has been beaten in this tournament they've passed out. Which means…"

It finally hit him.

_"To win this,"_ thought LaKota, _"I've got throw my best friend under the bus."_

"By the look on your face I see you understand," said Maya with a sad smile, "let's continue."

"Wait," said LaKota, "I want you to know that even with that at stake I'm not gonna chicken out of this duel, and no matter if I win or you win I'll duel with all of my heart and I won't back down."

Maya nodded.

Then the pharaoh understood.

_"Yugi," _he said, _"if LaKota wins this Maya's soul will be absorbed into Drago's ring."_

Yugi gasped.

"Alright," said Maya, "I play _Polymerization_!"

The five cats on Maya's field jumped into a swirling vortex.

"Rise _Wild Cat Feline Queen_!"

Maya's best card appeared on the field in all of her feline glory. Her original ATK of 0 quickly jumped to 4550.

The crowd cheered at the sight of this powerful beast.

"Interesting how this duel is turning out just like our first one isn't it, Maya?" said LaKota.

"Yeah well let's see how interesting you find it when your _Dark Crusader's _ on the receiving end of my _Queen's Golden Fang_!"

Feline Queen ran at the Warrior.

"To bad I won't be seeing it today," said LaKota, "go _Negate Attack_!"

A barrier blocked the royal cat's attack.

"Fine," said Maya, "I'll end my turn seeing as you can't deal me any damage."

LaKota drew a card and added it to his hand.

"I'll play my _Card of Sanctity _so we each draw until we have six cards in our hands."

They both drew and LaKota smiled.

"You know Maya," he said, "I've picked up some new tricks since our last duel and I'm about to you show one of them, go _Double Summon_. Next I summon _Sangan_."

The small three-eyed Fiend appeared on the field.

"Now I'll sacrifice the little guy to summon _Dark Magician Girl_."

The blonde haired and blue and pink outfitted Spellcaster stood on the field.

"Next I activate the ability of my Crusader by removing another _Darkblaze Dragon _from my hand."

The warrior jumped to 2800 ATK points.

"Now I send my Magician Girl to the graveyard and remove both of my dragons from play to summon the _Sky Dragon Valkyrie _in attack mode!"  
Two lights shot out of LaKota's graveyard and wrapped _Dark Magician Girl _in a ball of light. When the light was gone the Spellcaster was revealed to be wearing a suit of armor that appeared to be made of Slifer himself. She held a long staff in her hand that had a green stone at the top. She had 2500 ATK points.

"What kinda monster is that?" asked Joey.

"That's one of the rarest cards ever created," said Solomon, "how did he get a card like that?"

_"Isn't that the card he gave us to watch over until he came back?"_ asked the Pharaoh.

Yugi nodded.

"Now I play my _Pot of Greed _to draw two cards," said LaKota, "from which my Valkyrie gains 500 for each."

The monsters ATK jumped to 3500.

"I'll now set both of the cards in my hand facedown." said LaKota

Maya drew a card to begin her turn.

"That was a nice attempt to summon a strong monster," said Maya, "but my monster is still stronger. And now she'll be even more so by my equipping her with _Wild Cat Armor_."

Armor appeared on Feline Queen and her ATK jumped to 5250.

"Now my pretty kitty," said Maya, "Attack his Valkyrie."

The giant cat ran at the red armored Spellcaster.

"Nice try Maya," said LaKota, "but I activate my _Negate Attack _card."

The queens attack was once again stopped.

"Fine," said Maya, "your move."

LaKota drew, "What luck, I drew _Card of Sanctity_."

They both drew until they each had six cards and _Sky Dragon Valkyrie's _attack became 5500.

"Now who has the stronger monster?" asked LaKota, "But now I'll play two cards facedown.

Valkyrie dropped to 4500.

Maya drew a card.

"I equip my queen with _Wild Cat Claw_(FAKE) which will increase her attack by 600."

The cat's claws became razor sharp and her ATK became 5850.

"Now attack his Crusader!"

"I activate my last _Negate Attack_." said LaKota as facedown flipped face up.

Her attack was once again canceled.

"Your move again, LaKota." said Maya.

LaKota drew and smiled as his eyes went grey.

"I know that look," said Maya, "you drew your card didn't you?"

"I did and I think I'll put my strategy into play." said LaKota, "I sacrifice my _Dark Crusader _and_ Sky Dragon Valkyrie_ to summon _Cosmo Queen_!"

LaKota's ace card appeared on the field and his outfit turned white.

"Whoa," said Joey, "what's that about?"

"It's probably some special effect." said Tristan.

"Next I'll activate _Cosmo Queen Infinity_(FAKE). Now my monsters can't be destroyed by battle"

One of LaKota's facedowns flipped face-up to reveal an image of LaKota's queen with an infinity symbol on her head.

A blue aura appeared around _Cosmo Queen_ and an infinity symbol appeared above LaKota's field.

"It's your move Maya." said LaKota.

"I'm sorry LaKota," she said as she drew a card, "but I think, my Feline Queen is stronger than Cosmo there. So I'll end this by attacking."

The cat once again ran at LaKota's field.

"Go _Light Deflector_(FAKE)" shouted LaKota as one of his last facedown flipped face-up.

Three weird ball things with faces appeared on the field with mirror's on their tails.

Maya's attack continued but hit one of the mirror things.

LaKota took no damage and the mirror thing didn't have a scratch on it.

"I should've seen this coming," said Maya, "it's your best combo."

"Yep," said LaKota, "as long as _Cosmo Queen Infinity _stands my _Light Deflector Tokens _can't be destroyed, and as long as my _Light Deflector Tokens _are on the field I can't take any damage."

"Then I play one facedown and end my turn." said Maya.

LaKota drew, "I'll play _Monster Reborn _and resurrect my _Sky Dragon Valkyrie_."

The Spellcaster reappeared on the field and her ATK jumped 4500.

"Next I'll equip her with _Axe of Despair_." said LaKota.

An axe appeared in the monster's hand and her ATK jumped to 5000.

"Now I call on the second power of my _Perfect Darkness _Spell card." said LaKota as wisps of shadows surrounded Feline Queen, "Now I can cut the ATK of one of your monster in half."

Feline Queen's ATK dropped to 2925.

"Now my Valkyrie," said LaKota, "attack with _Sky Dragon Staff Blast_!"

The Valkyrie shot a ball of colored energy at Maya's prized cat.

"I activate the effect of _Wild Cat Claw_," said Maya, "by sending them to the graveyard I can negate the destruction of my monster so even if I do take damage I'm still in the game."

The attack continued and ball of energy exploded when it hit Feline Queen. But when the smoke cleared Feline Queen still stood and Maya was down to 1425 Life Points.

"Yes," said LaKota, "but now I draw due to the after affect of this particular ability."

LaKota drew a card and his Valkyrie's attack jumped to 5500.

"Now I end my turn with a facedown." said LaKota with a bit of sadness in his voice.

Feline Queen's ATK returned to 5250

"Yug," said Joey, "what's with Mr. Capitol K down there?"

"I don't know Joey," answered Yugi, "he seems upset."

_"I believe he's upset because he just drew the card that will end the duel."_ said the Pharaoh as he watched on.

Maya drew a card.

"I'll rid the field of your combo by playing _Mystical Space Typhoon _to destroy _Cosmo Queen Infinity_."

The card shattered.

"Next I'll use the power of my _Token Leveler_(FAKE) to destroy all the Tokens on the field and deal the owner 500 points of damage for each one."

LaKota's _Light Deflector Tokens _exploded and dropped LaKota to 2500 Life Points.

"Now I play the Spell _Wild Cat Slaughter_." said Maya, "now I can discard my _Wild Cat Black Panther _to destroy a monster on the field and deal half of it's original ATK to the owner. So bye, bye Valkyrie."

The Spellcaster shattered and LaKota dropped to 1250.

"Now I attack your _Cosmo Queen_." said Maya, "Go _Queen's Golden Fang_!"

Feline Queen ran at her fellow royal.

"I activate _Waboku_."

Maya's attack was stopped.

"I'll end my turn then." said Maya.

LaKota drew and a pained expression went across his face.

"Maya," said LaKota, "I didn't want it to come to this but this duel must end."

"What are you…" started Maya until she saw the look on LaKota's face, "You drew 'her' didn't you?"

Instead of answering LaKota said, "I remove _Cosmo Queen _from the game to summon _Cosmic Queen Dragon_!"

The queens body became that of a dragon's, a tail grew from the end of her spine and it had a spiked ball on the end of it. Her robes became bony, hand-like wings and her crown grew larger and fused to her head. She grew until she was as big as one of the Egyptian Gods, if not bigger. The beast had 3300 ATK points.

Two ghost-like, feathered wings burst from LaKota's back.

"Whoa," said Yugi, "do you guys see that?"

"Ya mean the giant dragon?" asked Joey, "It's kinda hard to miss Yug."

"No," said Yugi, "I mean the wings that just appeared on LaKota's back."

"I don't see any wings Yugi." said Tea.

Maya stared up at LaKota's dragon.

"This is the card your father gave you before you left." said Maya.

"Correct." said LaKota.

"It won't matter," said Maya, "My Feline Queen is the stronger monster."

"I only wish that were true," said LaKota, "Maya before I do what I have to I would like to say it has been an honor to duel against you again, and I hope you will forgive me for what I must do now."

Maya gasped.

"I activate the final ability of _Perfect Darkness_. By sending it to the graveyard one monster on my field gains 1000 ATK for each DARK attributed monster in my graveyard and I have 4."

The Dragon's ATK jumped to 7300.

Tears ran down LaKota's face.

Then he heard Maya laugh.

He looked at her.

"It's okay LaKota," she said, "take your shot and win the duel."

"But…"

"Remember your promise LaKota. Now beat me and move on to your duel with Drago."

LaKota nodded.

"My dragon, attack with _Big Bang Fireball_(FAKE)!"

Energy was pulled into the dragon's center, and when it reached its peak a stream of fire shot out of the dragon's chest and hit Feline Queen.

The cat shattered and Maya's Life Points dropped to 0.

At first Maya smiled, but then she got a pained look and she fell to her knees screaming in pain as a white mist lifted out of her body and entered Drago's ring.

"Well that was a spectacular duel folks," said the announcer, "but the next match will be the final Wild Card duel. There will now be a small intermission."

LaKota ran over to his fallen friend and Yugi ran down to see if he needed help.

"Is she okay?" asked the spiky haired boy.

LaKota shook his head.

Yugi then noticed LaKota's outfit was still white and the wings were still on his back.

LaKota stood up and looked at Drago.

"Drago!" he shouted, "In the next duel you will be beaten and I will avenge Maya! You will regret ever entering this tournament!" LaKota then looked at Yugi, "Make sure nothing happens to her."

Yugi nodded.

The Pharaoh appeared next to Yugi.

_"LaKota," _said the Pharaoh, _"the next duel means everything, but when you get out there make sure to keep your emotions in check and believe in your deck."_

LaKota nodded and his clothes faded back to black and the wing vanished.

When the intermission was over the final duel began.

Well three chapters to go and then I'm done. Please read and review and I'll get to work on the next chapter.


	12. The Final Duel Round 1

Chapter 12

The Final Duel Round 1

The three duelists stood on a field. There was no way to use the duel arena since there were three of them, so they each activated their duel disk. They all had 4000 life points.

"Since there are three duelists the order has been decided by Kaiba himself." said the announcer, "Drago shall go first, then Stephen, and finally LaKota. Now let the duel begin!"

All three duelists drew five cards, and then Drago drew his starting card.

"Well I'll start this duel off with _Black Fog Specter_ (FAKE) in attack mode." said Drago.

A ghost like creature with hideous fangs that was made of a black smoke-like substance appeared on Drago's field. It had 0 ATK points.

"That's ugly." said Tea.

"It's not very impressive though," said Joey, "it has no ATK points."

"That may be true Joey," said Yugi, "but you have to remember that even weak monster's have special abilities."

"Yeah," said Joey, "but I don't see this duel lastin' very long if all his monsters are like that."

"I end my turn with two facedowns." said Drago back on the battlefield.

"Now it's Stephen's turn," said the announcer, "who will he make his target in this battle."

Stephen drew a card and smiled.

"I summon my _Pyro Knight _in attack mode." he said as his 1600 ATK point monster appeared in attack mode with his sword drawn, "Now I activate his ability and take the top card of your deck."

The warrior threw his sword at Drago's deck and brought back the top card.

"Nice," said Stephen, "it's your _Black Fog Warrior_ (FAKE)."

A creature made of a fog-like substance and had on a battered armor appeared on Stephen's field with 0 ATK points.

"Next I can play _Double Fire _since the monster I summoned this turn was a FIRE monster." said Stephen, "Now I summon _Little Flame_." The little troll with 500 ATK appeared on the field.

"That's it for me." said Stephen.

"Well," said the announcer, "it appears Stephen is going to give his undivided attention to Mr. Soulless, but what is LaKota going to do."

LaKota drew and looked over his hand, "I'll start by playing _Pot_ _of_ _Greed_." LaKota drew two more, "There it is, I play _Perfect Darkness_."

The air once again became filled with wisp of shadows and became cold.

"Now I'll start this duel off by playing _Polymerization _and fusing together the Gazelle and _Berfomet _inmyhand to Fusion Summon _Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast_." The two headed creature appeared on the field and its brown coloring became black, its wings became a dark grey, and its eyes became a piercing red. It had its usual ATK of 2100

"I wasn't aware you owned any Fusion monsters Mr. Dark Cloud." said Drago.

"There's a lot you don't know about me Soulless." said LaKota, "Now I summon _Dark Crusader_," the black clad warrior appeared on the field,"and play my last two cards as facedowns. I end."

"This is new for LaKota." said Yugi.

"Whata ya mean Yug?" asked Joey.

"Well usually he avoids playing monsters like Chimera and sticks to monsters he uses a lot," said Yugi, "but this time he seems be trying to get ready for something."

Yugi looked over at the motionless body of Maya that lay in the seat next to him.

_"I sure hope they can beat Drago_." thought Yugi.

_"If they don't," _said the Pharaoh, _"then we'll have to."_

It was Drago's turn and he drew.

"I'll play a second Specter in attack mode," another ghost appeared, "and activate my _Fog_ _Hand_ (FAKE) trap card to take back control of my Warrior." A hand of fog shot out a grabbed the warrior from Stephen's field, "And when control of this monster is switched the previous owner takes 500 points of damage."

Fog shot from the warrior's mouth and dropped Stephen to 3500.

"It's too bad you brought him to your field with your Knight's effect. If you'd waited you could've taken control of it with a spell card and dealt me that damage." said Drago.

Stephen growled.

"I now end my turn," said Drago, "but because I end my turn while having _Black Fog Serpent_ (FAKE) in my hand I can special summon it."

A serpent made of black fog appeared on the field. It had 0 ATK points.

Stephen drew a card.

"I'm going to summon _Solar Flare Dragon _to the field." he said.

LaKota smiled, "Your summoning that monster activated my _Light Deflector _card."

LaKota's 3 tokens appeared on the field in defense mode.

Stephen smiled, "I play a facedown and end my turn."

Stephen's dragon fired two fireballs, one at LaKota and the other at Drago. The one headed towards LaKota was absorbed into one of the mirrors of his tokens.

And the fireball that had headed towards Drago was suddenly smothered by a fog barrier.

"You didn't think I saw that move coming?" Drago laughed, "I knew you'd try to use the power of your favorite cards to beat me in this duel, so I came prepared with _Black Fog Barrier_ (FAKE) which negates all effect damage deal to me."

"Dang it!" Stephen said, "I was sure I had this figured out. I end my turn."

LaKota drew one card.

"I got _Card of Sanctity _so we all draw until we have six cards." he said.

Each player drew.

"Next," said LaKota, "I send my _Kuriboh _to the graveyard to add 400 ATK to my Crusader."

Crusader jumped to 2000.

"Now get ready to lose half of your Life Points, Crusader attack his Specter!"

The warrior ran at the ghost and cut it in half. Drago was dropped to 2000.

"Nice," called Joey, "another attack like that and Drago's done for."

"Wait," said Tea, "what's happening to his ghost thing."

The Specter began to put itself back together and another one was forming in Drago's last available monster card zone.

"My Specters truly are the undead," said Drago, "for when they are destroyed they return and if I have an empty space I can summon another one from my deck to fill it."  
"Great," LaKota said, "so you have five monsters with 0 ATK."

"End your turn and you'll see why." said Drago.

"I didn't plan on attacking again so go ahead." said LaKota ending his turn.

Drago drew a card and gave a wicked smile.

"I play the field spell, _Black Fog Sanctuary_ (FAKE)!" shout the Soul Eater.

The roof became a swirling vortex and black fog leaked out of it followed by a building made of black stone. Suddenly all of Drago's monster had 3000 ATK points.

"Whoa," said Joey, "how'd that happen?"

"It must have something to do with that field spell." said Yugi.

"Now any Black Fog monster I have gains 3000 ATK points." said Drago, "But these creatures won't be on the field much longer for is use the power of the sanctuary to sacrifice them to summon the most powerful monster in my deck, the _Black Fog Dragon_(FAKE)!"

The five fog creature turned into nothing but fog that mixed together into the huge of a dragon with black smoke coming from its nostrils. Its ATK was 0.

"That's the most powerful monster in your deck?" asked LaKota.

"Yes," said Drago, "for now his ATK becomes equal to the number of monsters used to summon him x1000 plus the 3000 he get from my field card."

The monsters ATK became a grand total of 8000.

"Now destroy Mr. Dark Cloud's Token." said Drago.

The dragon shot a black fireball at the _Light_ _Deflector_ _Token_ which shattered.

"Now you are a mere two monsters away from utter destruction." said Drago, "I end and my monster turns back to the five that created it. And I play two facedowns."

The five monsters reappeared.

Stephen drew a card.

"I first play _Triple Flare_ and summon my other two _Solar Flare Dragons_ to the field." the two other serpents appeared on the field, "Now I use _Polymerization _to fuse my three dragons into _Solar-Trio Dragon_!"

The three dragons fused into the three headed Pyro Beast.

"Next I use the spell _Exchange_, and due to this being the duel it is," said Stephen as he turned to the announcer, "what's the ruling."

"Select one opponent to switch your card with." the announcer called.

"Fine," said Stephen, "I pick LaKota."

LaKota's eyes went wide in surprise and he walked over to Stephen, they revealed their hands to each other.

LaKota saw the three cards in Stephen's hand; a _Pyro Knight_, a _Soul of Fire_, and a spell card he didn't recognized; it showed the image of a phoenix rising from a pile of ash the name read _Phoenix Returning to Life_.

LaKota chose that card; he got the felling that it was the card Stephen wanted him to take.

Stephen took LaKota's _Call of Cosmo Queen_.

"I play a facedown, now I destroy your _Black Fog Warrior_." called Stephen.

Stephen's dragon fired three fireballs at the warrior.

"I activate _Black Fog Reflector _now we each take to same of damage." said Drago.

The attack continued and the monster was destroyed and Drago dropped 500 and Stephen dropped to 2000.

"I activate _Call of Cosmo Queen _to remove _Black Fog Serpent _from play." said Stephen in excruciating pain, "I end my turn."

Stephen's dragon fired fireballs in the directions of LaKota and Drago, but both were dealt no damage.

"My move," said LaKota as he drew a card his eyes became grey, "now I sacrifice my Tokens to summon _Cosmo Queen_!"

The Spellcaster rose up from the field as the two monsters disappeared. LaKota's outfit turned white.

"Now I remove her from play to summon _Cosmic Queen Dragon_!"

The queen's shape changed into her dragon form, and the spirit wing appeared on his back.

"Thank you," said Drago, "because I can now activate _Black Fog Summon Damage _dealing you damage equal to the attack of the monster just summoned. So say hello to 3300 points of damage!"

LaKota appeared to in pain as his Life Points dropped to 700.

"That doesn't matter," I said, "I attack one of your _Black Fog Specters_."

The dragon shot a fireball at the ghost and it was sliced in half by the fire. It healed itself but Drago was dropped to 200 Life Points.

"I end my turn with a facedown." LaKota said.

Drago drew a card.

"Well this has been fun Firestorm," said Drago, "but it must to an end. I first put my monsters together into my dragon once more," the three ghosts fused into the dragon with an original of 0 that climbed to 3000 and then 6000, "and now I play _Black Fog Specter's Revenge_. When one or more _Black Fog Specters _is sent to the graveyard I can deal you both 500 point of damage."

Both LaKota and Stephen appeared to be in pain, LaKota dropped to 200 and Stephen to 1500.

"Now the only question is who to defeat first?" said Drago but his eyes were glued to Stephen, "My dragon attacks and destroys your favorite monster, Firestorm."

The beast launched a black fireball, LaKota was just about to activate his facedown but he heard Stephen yell.

"Don't activate that card just yet!" he said, "It's your job to beat Drago now!"

The fireball smashed into Stephen's dragon.

"Stephen!" shouted LaKota as he watched his brother fall to his knees, "I can't beat this guy alone."

"You don't have…" Stephen began as his expression became blank and Life Points hit 0, "…to win."

A white mist floated out of Stephen and entered Drago's ring. Stephen lay on the ground unmoving.

"Oh no." Yugi said to himself.

_"It appears that we will have to beat Drago." _said the Pharaoh.

"I guess I'll be taking that ring now." said Drago as he took a step towards Stephen's body.

"Don't you take one step closer!" shouted LaKota, "You want the ring you'll have to beat me first."

The ring on Stephen's finger disappeared and reappeared on LaKota's.

"Fine," said Drago as his monster split into three Specters, "just one attack next turn and I'll win anyway. Your move."

LaKota didn't draw and activated his facedown.

"I activate _Phoenix Returning to Life_!" the boy shouted.

Suddenly all of the cards on the field disappeared.

"Now all the cards on our fields, in our hands and in our graveyards go back to the decks and the decks are shuffled, plus our Life Points return to 4000. Stephen is of course excluded do to the fact he's 'unconscious's." said LaKota as he placed all of his cards back in his deck. Drago did the same. Their Life Points jumped to 4000, "Also we each draw five new cards to restart the game."

They each drew five cards.

"And since it was my turn," said LaKota as he drew a card, "I draw."

"Yugi," said Joey, "what's the point of starting the game over?"

"I don't know?" said Yugi before he once again turned and looked at Maya.

_"Yugi," _said the Pharaoh, _"I think the reason Stephen left LaKota that card was to see if his brother could beat this enemy on his own."_

_ "I think you might be right, Pharaoh," _Yugi through his mental link with the Pharaoh, _"and I hope he can."_


	13. The Final Duel Round 2

Sorry about this chapter taking so long, there was a small incident with my brother and had to write it twice. Anyway, I also noticed that I've been getting Prof. Hawkins's (been calling him Hopkins) name wrong due to an information mix up, I'll fix that here. Also, I'm changing how I do the Life, ATK, and DEF Points. Well, enjoy this final chapter of my story.

Chapter 13

The Final Duel Round 2

LaKota: 4000

Drago: 4000

LaKota drew his card and smiled.

"I'll start with _Perfect Darkness_," he said as the field became surrounded by shadows, "Next I'll summon a little known member of the Spellcaster family, _Dark Magician Boy _(1900/1600)."

A boy about the same age as _Dark Magician Girl _appeared on the field. He had an outfit like _Dark_ _Magician_ but the designs were red and the outfit itself was black. He also held a red staff that was as long as his female variant's.

"I can summon this monster from my hand when I also hold a _Dark Magician_. Now that he's summoned I play _Dark Magician Girl_ (2000/1700)from my hand with the boy's ability."

The girl appeared next to the boy.

"Next I play _Sage's Stone_ to summon the one, the only, the _Dark Magician _(2500/2100)!"

Yugi's signature monster appeared on the field.

"Impressive," said Drago, "you brought the whole family."

"That's not all," said LaKota, "I play _Cosmic Ritual_. Now, since I have three Spellcaster type monsters on the field, I can summon another from my deck. Now come, _Cosmo Queen _(2900/2450)!"

The purple woman appeared on the field and LaKota's outfit turned white and his eyes went grey.

"Not even she can help you defeat me." laughed Drago.

"I end my turn." said LaKota.

Drago drew a card and smiled.

"I play _Black Fog Specter Summon_," he said, "now I can summon every _Black_ _Fog_ _Specter_ I own to the field in one turn."

Three of the ghosts appeared on the field.

"Now I play _Black Fog Sanctuary_!"

The building once again lowered itself from the sky. (Black Fog Specters: 3000/0)

"Unreal," said Joey, "he actually got that thing on his first turn."

"How can LaKota even defend against a card like that?" asked Tristan.

"Don't count LaKota out yet," said Yugi, "there's more to a duel than just one card. Right Granpa?"

"Right Yugi," said Mr. Moto, "but this Drago seems to be trying to make an exception for that rule."

"If Yugi says this LaKota kid can win then he can," said Rebecca as she rapped her arms around Yugi, "Right Yugi?"

Yugi blushed deeply.

Tea clenched her fist in rage.

Back on the battlefield Drago was laughing.

"Isn't it amazing that your end will come so soon?" he asked, "I was actually hoping I'd get to toy with you for a little while. I guess I'll just have to do that when you're trapped for all eternity."

"Just get on with your turn!" yelled LaKota.

"Fine," said Drago, "I use the power of my sanctuary to create the _Black Fog Dragon _(0/0+ boost=3000/0+ effect= 6000/0)!"

The three specters swirled together and became the dragon.

"Now I attack your Magician Girl so this duel will end here." said Drago.

A ball of black smoke shot from the dragon's mouth at the girl and it hit. Drago laughed until the smoke cleared and he saw _Dark Magician Girl _standing on the field as if nothing had happened.

"Did you forget, Drago," said LaKota, "a family protects one another, and while _Dark Magician Boy _is on the field no other Spellcaster type can be destroyed by battle."

Drago growled, "I end my turn with a facedown."

His dragon split into his three specters.

LaKota drew another card.

"Lucky me," he said, "I got _Card of Sanctity_. Now I play it and we each draw six cards."

They each did so.

"Ah," he said, "just the card I needed, I play _Polymerization _fuse the three Dark Magician monster together to create…" the three monsters fused together, "_Dark Magician Master _(3200/2500), and he gains 300 for each spell card that's active on the field (3800/2500)."

In the three monster's place stood a muscled man wearing an outfit that sort of mixed the _Dark Magician _with the _Dark Sage's _shoulder pads and cape. His staff was also a mix of the two and much longer.

"Now I can activate his ability," said LaKota, "at the mere price of 500 Life Points, I can destroy a monster on your field and deal you half of its current ATK as damage."

One of Drago's specters exploded.

LaKota: 3500

Drago: 2500

"Next, I'll place two cards facedown and end my turn." said LaKota.

"Amazing," said Prof. Hawkins, "LaKota seems to have a copy of every rare card in the book."

"Not only that," said Granpa Moto, "but he's given himself a 1000 point lead."

"Looks like LaKota could still have a chance to win." said Tristan.

"We're forgetting something," said Yugi, "Drago's Specter comes back when it's destroyed."

Just as Yugi said this, the ghost like creature reappeared on the field with 3000 ATK.

"That was a nice try," said Drago, "but my dragon will destroy you next turn."

"Ah," said LaKota, "but you're wrong, as long my magician remains face-up on the field, you can't destroy any Spellcaster type monster except him."

"You can still take damage."

"We'll see, it's your move."

Drago drew a card.

"I'll start by summoning _Black Fog Berserker _(0/0=3000/0) in attack mode."

A huge, warrior-like monster made of black fog wearing wicked looking armor appeared.

"Next I'll use his ability to deal me and you 300 damage." said Drago.

The monster shot fire from his mouth at both duelists.

LaKota: 3200

Drago: 2200

"Now I use my sanctuary to summon my dragon (0/0=3000/0=7000/0)."

The dragon formed again.

"Now I attack your _Dark Magician Master_!"

The dragon shot a fireball at the Spellcaster, and it hit causing a massive explosion.

"The duel is over." said Drago with a smile.

"Wrong!" came a shout from across the field.

The smoke cleared to reveal LaKota holding up a monster card.

"I'd like you to meet _Firewall Maker_ (FAKE)." said LaKota, "When a monster is destroyed and I take damage, I can discard him to the graveyard cut the damage in half and deal you the other half."

Two walls of fire appeared on the and flew at each duelist and damaged them.

LaKota: 1600

Drago:600

"I end my turn with a facedown," said Drago as his dragon spilt back into four monsters, "but this duel ends my next turn."

LaKota drew a card and smiled.

"You're Drago," he said, "this duel will end on your next turn. I play one facedown."

"What do you think he meant by that Yugi?" asked Tea.

"I don't know," he said, "but I wonder…"

_"Yugi,_" said the Pharaoh, _"are thinking that that facedown may be what LaKota means."_

_ "I think anything's possible at this moment."_

Back at the battle, LaKota continued his turn.

"I remove _Cosmo Queen _from play to summon _Cosmic Queen Dragon _(3300/2850)!"

The queen reshaped into her new form, and ghostly wings appeared on LaKota's back.

"Next I use _Pot of Greed_ and draw to cards."

He drew and gained his famous fanged smile.

"I play the spell _Monster Reborn _to bring back _Dark Magician Master_."

The Spellcaster rose back to the field.

"Now comes my most powerful Spell card," said LaKota, "_Cosmic Dragon's Fire Pulse_!"

"Whoa," said Yugi, "where'd he pull that one out?"

"What Yug?" asked Joey.

"Just watch and listen Joey."

"This card can't be negated for one thing," said LaKota, "but if I tribute a Level 8 or higher monster, while my dragon is on the field, _Cosmic Queen Dragon _can attack directly. So now I tribute my Magician Master to give my dragon her greatest power."

_Dark Magician Master_ turned into energy that wrapped the dragon in a fiery aura.

"Now my queen," said LaKota, "attack Drago and end this duel with _Big Bang Fireball_!"

The dragon fired her attack.

Drago smiled and flipped his facedown.

"Go _Negate Attack_!" he said.

The blast was deflected and Drago was left standing, and yet, LaKota had a smile on his face.

"Interesting how the spell can't be negated and the attack can." said Drago

"I end." said LaKota.

Drago drew a card.

"I summon _Black Fog Warrior _(0/0=3000/0)." said Drago as the warrior appeared on the field, "Now Berserker's effect activates."

The monster fired at both duelists.

LaKota: 1300

Drago: 300

"Now I create my dragon (0/0=3000/0=8000/0)!"

_Black Fog Dragon _formed once more.

"Now I end this with and attack on your favorite monster."

The dragon of fog shot fire at the other dragon who shattered.

LaKota: 0

Drago: 300

"It's finally over Mr. Dark Cloud." said Drago with when the smoke cleared and he saw LaKota on his knees.

His clothes had faded back to black and the wings had vanished.

"Not yet," said LaKota as white mist started to leak from his mouth, "I've got one last card to play, _Repercussions of Greed_."

A trap with an image of a man throwing dagger at an image of himself flipped up.

"What!" yelled Drago.

The white mist that had escaped from LaKota's body was pulled back into him and he seem to get his energy back as he got to his feet.

"With this card both players take damage equal to that of a monster destroyed this turn, and the only one is my dragon." said LaKota.

The spirit of the beast appeared.

"But, why would…" began Drago.

"I realized what my brother had meant when he said I didn't have to win." said LaKota with a fanged smile.

Drago looked confused.

"You see, I could never beat you alone," said LaKota, "and my brother found that out earlier when he tried to. So that left one choice open to me."

"A draw." said Yugi as the realization hit him.

"So let it end!" yelled LaKota as the ghostly Dragon fired at both of them.

Drago screamed out in pain.

LaKota: 0

Drago: 0

Draw

Drago continued to scream as his body started to crack along with his ring until they both burst into dust.

White mist lifted from the ashes and flew in multiple directions.

In the nurse station of the park, Victor and Tataku awoke from the beds they lay on.

"What happened?" asked Victor.

"I don't know, but my head hurts like…" began Tataku.

"You two quiet," said Cheng, "they bout to announce winner Wild Card Tournament."

The got out bed and walked up to TV

Back at the arena area, white mist found its way into both Maya and Stephen.

Stephen eyes shot open.

"You okay bro?" asked LaKota as he walked over to help his brother up.

"Fine," he said as he got to his feet, "but remind me to never do that again."

"Deal."

LaKota looked to the stands and smiled when he saw Maya on her feet and cheer with the crowd, and then Kaiba silenced them.

"Due to this strange occurrence of Drago Soulless vanishing, it appears we still have but one winner."

The corporation head took a moment to glare at LaKota before he said, "The winner of the Kaiba Corp Gran Championship Wild Card Tournament…"

"That a mouthful." said LaKota.

Another glare from Kaiba.

"…is LaKota Dark Cloud!"

The crowd cheered again and LaKota smiled.

"Hey Kaiba," said LaKota, "can I get a mike?"

He dropped one down to him; he easily caught it and spoke again.

"I'm honored to be crowned as winner of this division," he began, and this caused more cheers, "but I cannot accept."

The crowd gasped.

"What's he talking about Yug?" asked Joey.

"Yeah, he won." said Tristan.

"He deserves the chance against you, doesn't he Yugi?" asked Tea.

Maya shushed them, "If you'll listen you'll hear why he doesn't accept.

Back on the field LaKota continued, "The last duel was a draw, so, in my mind at least, I haven't rightfully earned the chance to duel Yugi. So, Kaiba, I respectfully decline."

Kaiba actually smiled at this.

"Then let the final round of the Gran Championship continue at the castle." called Kaiba.

Everyone filed out toward the castle, but as Yugi looked back he saw Maya, Stephen, and LaKota staying behind.

_"I guess they're preparing to leave."_ thought Yugi.

_"There job is done," _said Pharaoh, _"they are no longer needed, and must return to the shadows."_

Yugi sighed, he might actually miss those guys.

Yugi was down at the last floor of the castle catching his breath before the people were allowed to flood in. He'd beaten Leon and foiled the plan of the boy older sibling.

"That was some duel." came a voice.

Yugi looked up to see LaKota leaning against a wall.

"LaKota," asked a confused Yugi, "you're still here?"

"You think I'd miss a duel that good?" asked LaKota, "You must be crazy."

_ "That the only reason you stuck around?" _asked the Pharaoh.

"You caught me," said LaKota, "I wanted to say goodbye. You two have a long way to go, but you're the best for now."

"You think we'll ever meet again?" asked Yugi.

"Maybe," said LaKota, "In fact, count on it, and when we do I'll give you rematch to make up for beating you."

"I look forward to it."

_"As do I."_ said the Pharaoh.

LaKota gave a fanged smile and backed up into the shadows of the corner, and just like that, he was gone.

Moments later, LaKota stood in the woods near the park where a Helicopter sat.

"What took you?" asked Stephen from his spot inside the craft.

"I had to say goodbye." said LaKota.

"Whatever," said Stephen as his younger brother got in, "I just got off the phone with HQ, they're saying we did so well that they're talking promotions."

"Excellent," said LaKota, "but has Maya changed her mind yet about…"

"Nope," said Stephen, "still has her mind set."

LaKota sighed.

"Cheer up," said Stephen, "we just stopped two Soul Eaters."

"That reminds me," said LaKota as he slipped his brother's ring off his finger, "this is yours."

Stephen took the ring, and as he slipped it on the numeral changed to 97.

"Well," said Stephen with a smile, "on to the next one."

LaKota gave a fanged smiled as the helicopters pilot, Maya, took off, "On to the next one."

The End


End file.
